


A Long Journey Home

by Quixotic_Quetzalcoatl



Series: Afternoon Tea with Prince Lotor [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ADAM LIVES IN EVERY REALITY, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Backwards time travel is mathematically and theoretically impossible, But we are not travelling backwards in time are we?, Inktober 2018, Kick ass and take names, M/M, One and a half months after Voltron disappears, S7 Fix-it Felix!, We are going to storm the canon reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-07-11 13:00:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 33,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15972821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quixotic_Quetzalcoatl/pseuds/Quixotic_Quetzalcoatl
Summary: After an elaborate reticulation of unlikely alliances, effluent deception, and exceptional cunning, the intergalactic war is over in this alternate reality. With the Liars of Lacrimation defeated well before they ever reached planet earth, it remained as pristine and unfelled as it was prior to the Galra scourge. As the paladins of Voltron head home, Shiro, who has silently struggled with an enduring loneliness, is finally met with an effusive welcome.While the Voltron Alliance makes strides to save multiple realities from the entrenched existential evil, Lance, who has been a pillar of emotional support for his best friends now finds himself emotionally torn. Can you love more than one person at once?Ok kids, I guess it’s time for more celebrity jeopardy!





	1. Resonant Reunion

Their triumphant return to earth was a spectacle to behold. Emperor Lotor’s exultant address to the empire had now reached earth’s inhabitants and celebrations were raging across the globe. Voltron’s paladins were lauded as heroes of the universe, and bestowed with the highest honours. Shiro was awarded a Purple Heart for his sacrifice and bravery, the garrison being an intergalactic branch of the US military. 

Shiro stepped away from the festivities and approached the wall of fallen soldiers at the garrison. As he traced his fingers across the names of those who had given their lives in the name of freedom and liberty, he exhaled a breath of relief. There could have been many, many more names upon this wall were it not for all of their combined efforts. Everything he had done until this point, the numerous brushes with death he had endured, had all been worth it. 

“Takashi,” whispers a voice broken with emotion behind him.

The heat that rises in his chest threatens to choke his next breath. There wasn’t a single day that had passed that he hadn’t thought of Adam. As he turns around slowly, he hears him say, “I know I don’t even deserve another chance, but after I thought you had died on Kerberos, if I just had the chance to tell you, l...”

He doesn’t have a chance to finish before he finds himself locked in Shiro’s embrace. “I’m so sorry,” persists his old flame. “I never should have said what I did. I’ve regretted it everyday. I never stopped thinking about you.” He had rehearsed it a thousand times but now that his chance had arrived, he stumbled over his words like a fool and couldn’t remember half of what he wanted to say. 

Adam still wore the same fresh, fougère sandalwood scent he always did. His ruggedly handsome features were accentuated by the messy quiff and short beard he now sported. Shiro wasn’t hearing many of his words anymore; he was just happy to finally be home and didn’t want to relinquish his hold on him. He was still breathing in his scent when he realized Adam was still apologizing to him. 

“Adam, just shut up will you?” he interrupts as he pulls him into a rough kiss.


	2. A Lot of Latte

Despite their passionate embrace, things were a little awkward afterwards. It had been nearly two years since they last saw each other, now neither knowing where to begin, both uncertain of what to say. 

“It’s so good to see you, again, Adam. There were so many times I wasn’t even sure if I would live to see earth again.”

Adam scans his face, his heart laden with regret. The deep scars now marring his face, his inexplicable silver-hued hair, and the cold and sterile cybernetic arm, were all remnants of the untold horrors he had endured at the hands of an unfathomable evil. Shiro senses the heaviness between them and opts instead to say, “Hey, is that café still around? I’m not gonna lie, there were times when all I wanted was a venti extra hot, no foam, chai latte.”

Adam laughs. “Actually, I’ve been ordering your drink on a regular basis. They know me by name and have it ready for me before I reach the counter.”

“You don’t have a class to teach right now?”

“No, I took the day off. Come on, we have a lot to catch up on.”

As they stepped outside, Shiro closed his eyes, and breathed in the crisp, winter air and took in the cloudless, apricot-hued sky. Another silence fell between them as they walked together, so Shiro decides to change his approach. “Hey, it wasn’t all bad when I was gone; did you know I joined a band?”

“You what?” exclaims Adam. 

“And you know all those Spanish classes you and I used to take together? They totally paid off in the end for nothing other than Spanish karaoke.”

“I remember the time you tried to say ‘I am embarrassed’ and ended up saying ‘I am pregnant’ in front of the whole class,” laughed Adam. 

“Estoy embarazada? I forgot about that!” Shiro chuckles loudly at that one. 

The tension had immediately dissipated and they were quickly able to recover the fluid conversations they used to have together. Shiro and Adam spent hours at their old haunt, reminiscing on good times, and catching up on recent ones. There was a pervasive happiness that neither of them had felt in what seemed to be an eternity.


	3. Undisclosed Desires

“Do you remember the time I had been studying for finals, and ran out of clean laundry, so I showed up to class in a putrid green shirt and salmon pink shorts?” Adam was laughing so hard that he snorted. 

“I think the most offensive thing you wore that day was actually the mismatched socks underneath your sandals.” Shiro sighs over his drink. 

“And to think the only reason I signed up for Spanish class was to try to impress you.”

“You did what?”

“Yeah, I never told you. I felt embarrassed about it, and then as time went on, it wasn’t like I could just openly admit that I’m actually fluent in Spanish and only took classes with you for two years so I could get to know you.” 

Shiro laughed so hard at this admission that he almost fell out of his chair. When he once again was able to resume respiratory function, he said, “So when you volunteered to tutor me?”

Adam smiles and shrugs his shoulders. “Best thing that ever happened to me.” He pauses and then says softly, “Hey, this might not be that exciting since you were out among the stars for so long, but Mars, Venus and Jupiter are visible tonight since there isn’t any cloud cover. Did you want to go for a walk like we used to?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

As they walked in the cool, brisk winter night under a breathtaking canopy of stars, Adam feels Shiro take his hand. His heart quickened like it did the first time they had held hands. “I really missed you, god, I missed you. And then when I thought I’d never see you again...” Adam’s voice breaks and he is unable to continue. The tears stream freely down his cheeks, as he looks up into the night sky to blink them away. “I really am sorry for how calloused I was before you left. I...” he shuts his eyes tightly in distress and exhales deeply.

Shiro waits for him to finish but he doesn’t. 

“You know, I’ve never seen more clearly than I did during my time in a far away galaxy, that people say and do atypical things out of fear, and out of pain. You don’t need to apologize anymore, Adam, it’s alright. I didn’t make it very easy for you.” He sighs deeply. “We were younger then.”

“Will you... do you... “ he paused again. Why was it so difficult to articulate his thoughts today? “Do you think you could love me again?” he mumbles.

“I never stopped, Adam.”


	4. Waning and Waxing

Their evening amble ended on the rooftop of the Galaxy Garrison. The night was beautifully illuminated by a vast stretch of sequined stars, silent and scintillant. As they gazed into the interminable night, meteoroids briefly lit the sky as they streaked across the heavens, only to fall away, giving reign back to the resolute gleam of a waning gibbous moon.

The gentle hush was finally broken by Shiro as he sat next to Adam. “After I had been rescued from the astral plane and regained consciousness, I had fallen into a bit of a funk, questioning all of my own motives and choices up until that point. I had become so withdrawn that it drew the attention of my friends and they even followed me around for an entire day to make sure I was alright,” he chuckled. “I don’t know how they figured it out, but Lotor mentioned to me that as someone who has screwed up many times, all you can do is try again. Hunk then gave me a small fragment of the diamond from the castle, and Lance gave me a section of the transreality ore. Then they made a sly remark about true love.”

Shiro pulls out a beautifully crafted obsidian black ring with an inlaid emerald cut diamond. “I’ve never stopped loving you. I hope that we can try again, and this time, build our relationship stronger and more steadfast than before.”

Adam was speechless. As tears welled in his eyes once again that day, he took Shiro in his arms and kissed him tenderly.


	5. Priorities

Adam woke up before dawn’s first light and looked over to Shiro’s sleeping form. Last night had been one of the most passionate nights he had ever experienced and the happiness he felt just to have his lover back was incomparable. He kissed his shoulder and traced his fingers over the numerous scars his partner now carried, heavy reminders of the price he had paid to save countless lives. The flurry of emotions that enveloped him manifested itself as a heaviness upon his chest and a large lump in his throat. Had Shiro taken his advice, and chosen their relationship first, who knows how many people would have died? The Galra could have swarmed the earth like a merciless horde of locusts. He had been a key player in every step of the war...

Adam sighed deeply. He had also figured out what Shiro wasn’t telling him. This alliance had saved an Emperor Lotor from another reality whose duty it was to return and to rectify the evil running rampant there. However, what remained unsaid, was that should he require their assistance to quell the massive uprising and the insurgents, Adam was certain the Voltron paladins and their new allies would leave in a heartbeat to help their friend. 

He would be back to square one. If he had fewer responsibilities, he would offer to leave with them but he couldn’t just abandon his post. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again, however, it would be incredibly difficult to deal with another departure so soon. He ran his hand through his hair in distress. 

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asks sleepily.

“Oh, you’re awake. I was just thinking about you having to leave again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if this other Lotor needs help over in his reality, you guys would go to assist him, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, well they don’t need me,” Shiro says plainly.

“What? Why not?”

“Keith is the leader of Voltron now.”

“But what about strategy and planning... they need your expertise!”

“Nah, Nymuë and our Lotor have got it. I don’t know if I’ve met anyone as smart as those two when it comes to military know-how.”

“You mean the dour, gloomy, insubordinate medic?!”

“Yeah, she’s become Lotor’s top military strategist; she worked behind the scenes to win this war.” 

“Oh. So I woke up early stressing about it for nothing?”

“Pretty much,” Shiro yawns again as he tries to go back to sleep.

“Oh no, no, no. There’s no way I’m letting you go back to sleep,” Adam says as he runs his hand down Shiro’s torso.


	6. Cinnamon and Spice

Shiro’s foggy veil of sleep was gently lifted by the aromatic notes of warm clover and woody spice emanating from the kitchenette. The rich and mellow tones of his favourite coffee wafting into the bedroom emphasized the depths of his protracted homesickness. This was the only place he had wanted to be for so long. It was good to be home. After he had showered and dressed, Adam presented him with a truly exceptional breakfast of poached eggs and cinnamon brioche. 

He smiled and shook his head. “Adam, you didn’t have to go to such lengths for breakfast!”

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to.” Then he huffed in amusement. “You know, I had everything planned out, yesterday. What I was going to say, what I was going to do. And it all went out the window when I saw you. And then you one upped me with the most magnificent ring this universe has ever seen. The least I can do is make you breakfast, you big oaf.”

Shiro laughed. “It’s not a competition. But what do you mean I one upped you?”

“When the development of the incandescent light bulb was in progress, there were so few metals that could reliably give the necessary light without breaking under the current. Tungsten was chosen for its unparalleled high melting point and tensile strength. When I think of you, even under immense stress and pressure, you never break or fall apart, like I did when I found out you were leaving. Instead, you continue to emanate the light and warmth of love that so many people have come to admire and to acknowledge, myself included.” Adams eyes filled with tears and he had to pause for a moment but he was able to keep going. He pulls out his own ring, a simple matte band of pure tungsten. “You remain modest, like this simple black metal, but have given an incandescent light to all of the people around you. You are strong under a direct current of pressure and yet gentle to those you care about. I don’t want to live a life without you, if you’ll continue to have me. Takashi, will you...” 

He doesn’t even get to finish or kneel, before he was swept in a tender embrace. Shiro’s resounding yes was understood in their fervent kiss.


	7. One Love, One Life

For Adam, the perpetual cloud of regret and longing was quickly shunted away by the warm winds of redress and reparation, his sunny disposition restored by this beautifully rare second chance. As he walked to his first lecture of the morning, he took in the excited chatter, and found himself deeply moved by the affectionate hugs that he saw. The happiness he felt permeated his entire being. And then an episodic wave of realization crashed down upon him and threatened to submerge him. That surly, sullen, foul-mouthed medic who was at constant odds with authority was only one person, and yet she was a pivotal factor in the direction of the war. By the same token, Takashi, had also made comparable contributions in determining their fate. If he purported to love his partner in the least, he would... no he must support any endeavour he undertook. There would always be more students to teach. But if lives hung in the balance, then that was of utmost importance. Adam couldn’t wait to tell his... fiancé!? It would take some time to get used to the idea. In any case, if they needed help in that alternate reality, he was going to go too and kick some ass.


	8. Hedonistic Hedgehogs

Adam feels a shove from behind while he was sitting in the instructor’s lounge. 

“Hey, W, congratulations! So, deets, we need all the deets,” says a cheerful voice behind him.

“Hey, Hedwig, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grins.

“Listen, jerkwad, stop trying to change the topic by calling me that northwestern, carrion-mashing bird that I hate.”

“Ok, Cedric,” Adam laughs.

“Stop referring to me as characters who have died!”

“If you’re going to torture Hedrick, at least do it right,” chimes in Montgomery. “Like, mind your own business, you hedonistic, heddle-faced, hedgehog.”

“Why am I even friends with you dumbasses?”

“So W, for real, what’s the scoop with that gorgeous ring?” 

“Oh, I just got this out of a gum ball machine for fun.”

Hedrick slaps him on the shoulder. “Such an asshole.”

“Takashi had this made from the same transreality ore that Voltron is made from, and the diamond is a fragment from the Castle of Lions compressed with the gravity of dozens of black holes.”

Montgomery and Hedrick look at each other for a split second and burst out laughing. Monty actually spit out her coffee. 

“Fine, don’t tell us, whatever, jerk.” 

“See, what did I tell you? Such an asshole,” Hedrick says as they exit the lounge. 

The two of them slap Shiro on the back and wink exaggeratedly at him as they pass him on their way out. 

“What’s with the two of them?” he asks as he sits down across from Adam.

“Oh, I dunno. Something about hedonistic hedgehogs.”


	9. Indecent Exposure

“Hey, man, is that really transreality ore?” asks Dos Santos as he approaches Adam’s table.

“Yeah, they didn’t believe me.”

“So, is it kinda like magic? You can go to other dimensions with it?”

“Well, from what I’ve been told, you need Altean magic to...”

“So if I was Altean, I could take your ring, and be all like, ‘it’s morphin’ time’ and go to another dimension?!”

“It’s not that simp...”

“And then what if I went to the wrong dimension, and like ran into Zarkon. He’d be all like, ‘yo bitch, gimme your ring,’ and I’d be ‘damn, motherfucker.’ But like, he zaps back here and ends up naked in the middle of the street. And the po po be all like ‘you’re under arrest for indecent exposure.’ And then he’s like, ‘do you know who I am, I am emperor Zarkon of the Galra empire!’ And they’re like, ‘Sure man, we believe you. Save it for the judge.’ That’s what I call karma chameleon. Get it?! You know that 80s song... “

“Yes, we got it. Thank you, Dox Santos. Exposing emperor Zarkon since 1983.”

“Yeeeeah! See someone gets me!” he yells as he twirls out of the lounge.

After a moment, Shiro says with a chuckle, “everyone is a bit strange today.” Adam graciously accepts the latte Shiro brought him.

“You know what’s strange?” Adam asks with a smile, “That your friends followed you around for a day... I have difficulty imagining the emperor of the Galra empire doing that.”

“Well, it was the Lotor from the alternate reality...”


	10. Wolfram

Hedrick bursts back into the lounge, having forgotten his shoulder bag, startling Adam and Shiro. Adam sighed. Their conversation had been interrupted so many times, they might as well resume it at home. As Hedrick stands in place, silently scrutinizing the couple for much too long with revulsion etched in his expression, Adam finally says, “alright, hedgepig, what is it?”

“I never thought you were so full of yourself.”

“What in the world are you on about now?”

“Shiro is also wearing a ring.”

“Your powers of deduction are astounding.”

“It is not made of tungsten carbide, like other engagement or wedding rings, but pure tungsten.”

“Oh, that’s very observant of you,” Shiro interjects.

“The periodic symbol for tungsten is W. And W is your nickname because no one can pronounce your last name. So you gave him a ring that is entirely symbolic of you. Like, hands off motherfuckers, this bitch is mine, you sly fucking dog, you. What did I say, you are such an asshole.” Hedrick abruptly turns and leaves the lounge.

Adam groans and face palms himself while Shiro laughs so hard he chokes on the tea he was sipping.


	11. Second Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those following both series, M&M and Adashi, the flashbacks are happening concurrently from different POVs, but subsequently affecting current events in both, which is why I’m alternating writing between the two.

Lance and Hunk peer stealthily around the corner, with their target in sight, and attempt to quietly sneak closer for a better angle. 

“I can hear you two behind me,” alternate reality Lotor says.

“Oh, hey Sephiroth, wassup? We had no idea you were... uh, here,” Lance says as he tries to salvage their failed espionage attempt.

“Do you care to explain to me two things, then? Why you have been following me for the past half-varga and why everyone calls me Sephiroth?”

“Oh, do you prefer Thranduil, then? They’re just fictional flowy, white-haired, ahem, villains,” Lance replies with a hacking cough. 

“He didn’t mean that,” Hunk says, “I don’t think you’re an irredeemable villain who...” Lance elbows him in the arm.

“What? I’m just saying...”

Lotor sighs. “I might as well be.” 

Lance knowingly strokes his chin and Hunk gives him a pursed-lip nod. “Dude, I think you should come with us.”

As the three of them approach the black lion in the hangar, Lotor asks, “Why are we here?”

“We need your help. We can’t get up to the cockpit without Shiro hearing us.”

“Why are you spying on him as well? Are you not all friends?”

“It’s BECAUSE we’re friends that we are spying on him.”

“But you humans despise deception... I do not understand...”

“Seph, sometimes, you just gotta spy on your friends...”

Lotor could feel himself getting a headache at Lance’s convoluted and nonsensical reasoning. Nevertheless, he finds himself repurposing and reprogramming a Galra drone that he sends close enough to the cockpit to relay Shiro’s verbal self-flagellation. 

“He’s just singing to himself. Is that really so out of the ordinary?” Lotor asks with exasperation. 

“He won’t tell us what’s going on,” Hunk answers, “but he hasn’t been showing up to our meetings and isn’t himself ever since he regained consciousness. Man, I wish I paid more attention in Spanish class. I don’t know what he’s saying.”

“The key is what he’s singing,” Lance replies. “All of his songs reflect heartbreak and regret. And I think he blames himself for the way it all went down.”

Lotor thinks deeply for a moment and silently pulls out half of the comet ore and half of the diamond fragments given to him earlier in the day by his counterpart. He hands them over to Hunk and Lance and motions for them to follow him; to their mortification, he walks up to the lion and loudly knocks on it. When Shiro finally emerges from its mouth, he asks in surprise, “what are all of you doing here?”

“Against my better judgement, I have been commandeered by these two to surreptitiously monitor your... activities.”

“Hey,” cries Lance as he hits him, “you’re not supposed to tell him!”

Shiro laughs. “Lance, I know you and Hunk have been following me. And I know it’s because you’re concerned for me. I appreciate what you guys do for me.”

Lotor takes a deep breath. “I did something deeply regrettable yesterday. Your Lotor came to me this morning and mentioned that he was stricken with guilt after his actions almost cost Nymuë her life. But it was Lance who said to him, as someone who has made many mistakes, all you can do is try again. Perhaps you can also take some solace in this advice.”

Shiro looks at him in pleasant astonishment. It wasn’t like Lotor to admit fault of any kind, given the Galra methodology so brutally seared into him. 

As Lance and Hunk quietly give Shiro their gifts, he says with a mixture of disbelief and incredible gratitude, “Thanks, guys. I don’t know how you knew but I needed to hear that.” 

Lance pauses for a moment and sets his hand on Lotor’s shoulder. “You know, Keith grew up without his mother, and lost his father at a young age. He harboured a lot of anger and was constantly in trouble for fighting and rebelling, to the extent that he was expelled from Garrison. It just took some encouragement and gentle guidance from Shiro to steer him away from a darker path. I know you didn’t have that, so despite what has happened in the past, we’re here for you too, if you’re going through a tough time.”

“I know you bowed out last time, but we’re playing Monsters and Mana again this afternoon,” Hunk says. “You should play with us this time!”

“Perhaps I will,” he replies with a grateful smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This happens right after the last chapter in Crêpes, and just before Drivelnauts in M&M.
> 
> Shiro is singing Subeme la Radio


	12. Ripple Effect

Over a superb dinner of beef wellington, dauphinoise potatoes and a lovely red bordeaux courtesy of Adam, Shiro continued to tell of his adventures and mishaps. 

“So, what happened after all of that?” 

“Seph and I started spending more time together while we made the ring and the hair pins. It was a short amount of time each day but I saw incremental changes in him, in terms of outlook and philosophy.”

“Sounds like a certain delinquent teenager you took under your wing once upon a time. I think it’s hilarious that you became space dad to someone 400 times older than you.”

“I dunno, maybe I was more of a brother. For every stone cast into the water, there are dozens of ripples. I think we both helped each other. I missed home a lot, but it was also good to invest in someone who just needed a friend.”

“That part of you hasn’t changed at all. I’ve been thinking Takashi, whether or not it was solely for my sake when you said you would stay behind, I just wanted you to know that if you did choose to leave again, I would support your decision. If I could be of assistance, even, I wouldn’t mind coming.”

Shiro was a bit surprised, but given how events had so rapidly unfolded lately, it wasn’t too shocking. “That means a lot to me. Seph has been back in his own reality for about a week now. He is supposed to contact us in the next few days with an update. The students will be off on their winter break, so we can speak with the team together.”

“Can’t wait to meet him!”

“His Spanish isn’t half bad, and he might be able to rival your merengue.”

Adam freezes. “You guys taught him Spanish AND dancing?!”

Shiro shrugs as he turns on some music and sweeps his partner onto his feet. “I had a good teacher. ¡Baila conmigo! (Dance with me!)”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro plays Vente Pa’ Ca - Ricky Martin feat. Maluma


	13. All Good Things

Shiro had awoken early, agonizing over their upcoming predicament. The status of the alternate reality was potentially very dire, and the unrelenting unease was keeping him on edge. The good news was that there was a one week delay between the timeline here and the one there. The bad news was that Seph had been gone for a month. From what he understood after speaking with him, Sendak had a much stronger grip on the empire than he ever had here, a domination which would undoubtedly proliferate in Lotor’s absence. Secondly, their alliance had bested, outmanoeuvred, and thwarted Haggar at every turn because of certain strategic... alliances made early on in the game, ones that didn’t exist in his reality now. Voltron alone wasn’t enough to defeat the Komar Robeast. Every possible reason he could think of that contributed to their recent victories was patently nonexistent in Seph’s reality. He had to think of a comparable solution, and do it quickly. 

While Adam was teaching his class, Shiro headed to the docking bay to find Sam. If anyone could offer some good advice, it was him. 

Sam greets him with a warm hug and a robust handshake. “It’s good to see you, how have you been keeping up?”

“Great, actually,” Shiro replies, “it’s been amazing to be home again.”

“So how can I help you? You look like you have something on your mind.” 

“Well, I know celebrations are in full swing right now, and the winter holidays are just around the corner, but I’m worried about the news we are about to receive from the alternate reality. Did Katie update you on the current situation?”

“Yes, she did, and I’m sorry to hear that the war there is far from over.”

“We need a strategy, but our entire team is scattered, visiting their families at home.”

“I am available to sit down with you for a while to formulate a plan. Now, let’s see. From what we know, Sendak was under Haggar’s control. Her goal has always been to obtain Voltron. It seems to me their likeliest target would be earth, given that all the paladins save one, are human. I imagine they made comparable preparations if the other me had been sent to earth.”

“We don’t know how soon they would have done so, so we must assume earth is already under assault over there. If Voltron is there, they should stand a fighting chance,” Shiro says.

“And what is if it is not?”

“Why would you think so?”

“The quintessence field battle was drastically different here. Your team rescued Lotor before he made many reality jumps; the rifts were sealed without difficulty and all of you returned safely. Conversely, if it took a month to repair his alternate reality ships, their Voltron must have also sustained significant damage. With no castle, no wormhole capability, and potential heavy damage, travelling back to earth would take months and months in a best case scenario. We also have no information about the ruptures he created. You see, space and time are not separate entities; they exist as a fabric, woven together, as per Einstein’s theory of relativity. A rip in space, also creates a rip in time. If the the damage to the space-time fabric was greater than it was over here, I cannot even predict the possible outcome, given this incredibly new and unimaginable technology.”

Pidge and Matt walk up at that moment and eagerly chime in. “So, dad and Matt and I have been talking about this,” she begins, “what happens when you forcibly seal multiple space-time rifts with the gravity of dozens of black holes? The only time dilation I was aware of previously was at the event horizon of a black hole and you would need a supercomputer to calculate all the possible outcomes of the quintessence field battle. We nevertheless hypothesized about an extreme gravitational warping of space that could also warp time.”

“So you’re wondering if time changed for the team Voltron over there?”

“We don’t know! It didn’t change for us, but like dad said, our battle was way different,” Matt replies. “However, Pidge came up with the hypothesis after we hadn’t heard from Lotor at all since he’s been gone. May be he can’t contact us because of differing timelines.”

“If Voltron is potentially not there, we need to intervene as soon as possible. Seph gave me all the information he had on Sendak’s rebellion. With this intel, at least we can form a preliminary plan.”

“Who’s Seph?” Matt asks.

“Oh, it’s just a nickname for the Lotor in the alternate reality, otherwise it would get kinda confusing.”

“We have good news, Shiro,” Sam says with a smile. “The progress with the IGF-Atlas has been accelerated since the Matt and Katie have come home. They’ve been overseeing its construction day and night. It is almost complete.” 

“Tests with the balmera crystal Keith and Acxa obtained have been promising so far,” continues Matt. “It should be fully operational within a few days, actually.”

“Wow, I’m really impressed. Good work, everyone,” Shiro says with a smile. 

“Do you think you will need it? Admiral Sanda is not particularly known for a spirit of generosity.”

“I will need to receive our first intel report before I can make a decision. But don’t worry, I think a know a couple people gifted in the art of persuasion.”

It is at this moment that a couple of cadets walks by. “Shiro, have you met our MFE pilots?”

“No, I haven’t,” he smiles as he offers his hand.

“This is James Griffon and Ina Leifsdottir,” Sam says warmly. 

“Nice to meet you,” Shiro replies. 

“Likewise, sir,” James says stiffly. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Commander Shirogane. Congratulations on your engagement to Professor W,” Ina replies mechanically.

“WHAT? YOU’RE ENGAGED?” exclaims Pidge. “How is it she knows and we don’t!” 

Matt was also taken aback. “How did you find out, Ina?”

“Deductive reasoning,” she says pointing to his ring. “Pure tungsten, atomic number 74, periodic symbol ...W.” 

Shiro groaned internally and plastered a fake smile on his face. This was going to be quite the ordeal explaining the ring to everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter happens at the same time as the first bonus chapter in Crêpes.


	14. Multipass

Shiro meets Adam in the lounge during his lunch break to share his preliminary discussions with Sam when he is unceremoniously interrupted by Hedrick, sauntering in behind his colleagues.

“Dude, rumour has it that you joined some kinda Altean M&M campaign when you were lost in space! Is that true?”

“Yeah, it was really fun actually. I’ll really miss playing with the group since half of them won’t even be living on earth.”

“If only there was some kind of human alternative that existed here that you could play instead. If ONLY you had friends who have been inviting you to play for YEARS, that you kept turning down. Amirite?”

Shiro chuckles. “Ok, ok, when’s your next game?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t make it. We have our meeting....”

“Oh, you bitches all owe me five bucks,” Hedrick proclaims to Monty and Dox. “See what’d I tell ya? Such an asshole.”

“But it’s an important meeting. We are supposed to hear from Lo-....”

“Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz,” Hedrick replies sardonically as he shoos Shiro away with his hand.

“But...”

“Bzzzzzzzzzz,” he interrupts again with a look of disgust. 

“Don’t mind Mr. Rude-y Rhod,” Dox says sympathetically. “Hey, man,” he yells at Hedge, “what’d you have for breakfast? Bitch flakes?” He turns back to Shiro and Adam. “What he actually means is, Adam, what do you see in this jerk, anyway?” Dox guffaws and slaps Shiro on the shoulder. Hedrick and Monty chuckle as well. 

“Turning us down, just like old times. Good to have you back, Shiro!” Monty says to more laughter.


	15. The Art of the Insult

“Okay, okay, but for real, Shiro,” Dox says, “I get that you gonna have this meetin’ with this alternate reality dude tomorrow. And we all saw the Galra vids on how you guys took down Haggar and Sendak. But how did it get so bad in the other reality?”

“I was curious as well, Shiro,” Adam says, “there’s been so much to catch up on, I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask.”

“We did things differently here. Did you guys ever see Independence Day?” Shiro asks.

“Oh. My. God.” Hedrick replies. “Like, sure, I believe you Hollywood, take down an advanced alien species hellbent on destroying humanity with a simple computer virus. Totally believable.”

“Well, actually, that’s kind of how we defeated them. We used techniques that they weren’t familiar with.”

“Say wuuuuuut.”

“We dismantled Sendak’s rebellion by sowing discord from within. And we did that starting with propaganda.”

“Like those motherfuckers have never heard of smear campaigns?” Dox asks incredulously.

Shiro presses a button on his cybernetic arm and opens a display screen; he scrolls to a picture of Sendak splayed on the ground at the Kral Zera. It is captioned, ‘Living proof that a roasted zabluvian eel bladder can be a Galra Commander.’

Their friends burst into laughter and quickly ask for more pictures. Shiro explains that his rebellion was called the Fire of Purification as he pulls up Sendak trapped in an energy barrier, sans cybernetic arm, his face contorted with fury. ‘Liar of Lacrimation: about as much hot air as the butthole of a weblum.’

Another picture of Sendak unconscious in a stasis pod is headlined: ‘As much charisma as the wet trail of slime he leaves behind.’

And finally, a picture of him running away from the Kral Zera: ‘Scientists have discovered a new species of invertebrates: the spineless Sendakrap worm.

Hedrick, in particular, found them phenomenally funny. “Eel bladder!” he sighed as he wiped his eyes. Finally, Monty says, “those were hilarious...”

“Ohhhh, man,” says Hedrick, “Real life vicious mockery! You guys have all the fun.”


	16. Starbucks swilling hipster Adam, Inktober Day 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hedgehog, you son of a bitch...”


	17. Light’em Up

“Wait a second!” Adam exclaims suddenly. “You’ve been worried about the severity of the situation in the other reality, right? Ok, first of all, you have the element of surprise. Second of all, you guys have cloaking and stealth capabilities on all your ships.” Adam stands excitedly as he continues to speak. “You have all of the tech geniuses on earth at your disposal. Why don’t we sequester a team to start developing a kick ass computer virus to take down Sendak! Nymuë developed your arm with galra tech, didn’t she? You can access all their systems and implant a virus! Independence Day style!”

“Take them down from the inside!” Hedrick says, “that’s genius!”

“Hedge, that’s literally what we’ve been talking about for the last five minutes,” Monty says, unimpressed. 

Shiro stands up. “I’ll get in touch with Lotor, Pidge and Matt right away. You guys are amazing!”

“Wait,” Dox says urgently. “The most complex viruses take months of development. Isn’t your meeting tomorrow?”

“Does it necessarily need to be complex?” Monty asks. “What if you make one that is simple enough to render them defenceless long enough to take down their shields and light them up with some thermonuclear beanage.”

“I’ll see what we can do,” Shiro replies.

“Hey, if you do that, then you don’t need a large fleet at your disposal. Especially if your ships have cloaking. Hit‘ em hard and hit’em fast with a few strategic fighter pilots,” Adam says. 

“So, you know what this means, right?” asks Hedge.

“What?”

“You need to take those motherfuckers down in two weeks over the winter break because we are all coming with you.”

Shiro stepped back in surprise and admiration. “Are you sure?” he asks.

“Hell yes,” they all reply.


	18. Adam and Shiro Inktober day 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I swear to god, Hedwig...”


	19. Assassin’s Screed

“Seriously, though, I guess D&D is off for tomorrow night, then? I’d like to come to your meeting,” Hedrick says with a grin. 

“Yeah, we should all know what’s going on if we’re going to help you guys,” Monty says. 

“Once it’s all over, may be we can do a campaign,” Shiro replies. “Do you guys want to try Monsters & Mana?” 

“An Altean D&D, aw hell yes!” Dox exclaims.

“I’m going to be a rogue assassin,” Adam declares.

“Aw, come on man, that’s what you are in EVERY campaign,” says Hedrick with exasperation. “Ugh, you lovebirds are definitely made for each other.”

“What? I like being an assassin. Silent and deadly. You know who was the best one of all time? Ezio was my absolute favourite, actually, but there are good attributes for everyone that I’ve played. Didn’t dig the movie though, it was kind of disappointing.”

“La, la, la, la,” Hedrick covers his ears, “I can’t hear you.”

“Ezio was the watermark of the entire series. He’s everyone’s favourite,” Monty says unimpressed.

“Why you guys gotta be like that?” retorts Adam.

“Because we love you. It’s tough love.”

“Alright, motherfuckers, lets get this show on the road! Can’t wait for this meeting!” Dox says excitedly.


	20. Rogue Assassin Adam, Inktober day 19




	21. Sweet Funky Bebop

“Dude, why is your character so young? You look like a kid,” Hedge asked.

“He’s the youngest in the group of six, selected because he’s the fastest and most accurate dual-blade assassin. They’re on a mission to eliminate the king who issued the order to kill the guardian dragon of the Feldacore mountains and his only heir!”

“Never heard that story before,” Hedrick replies sarcastically. “Don’t tell me your name is Raylan.”

“Hey, I like that name! Thanks, Hedgehog!”

Hedge groans and smacks his own forehead. 

“So what’s underneath that mask? Do you have vicious scars or deformities or what?” Dox asks loudly.

“Knowing him, it’s probably another mask,” Hedge sighs.

Adam frowns at Hedge’s incessant mockery. 

Shiro and his crew met with Sam, Pidge, and Matt that same evening, having received word that Lotor had returned from his reality early with extremely troubling news. It was after hours on Garrison grounds, and they decided the optimal place to conduct an uninterrupted meeting would be in the Atlas hangar. Allura, Coran, and Romelle had been staying with Lance’s family, while Hunk had invited Keith and Krolia to stay at his place over the holidays. Both Lotors and his generals would be hailing all their communicators in a conference call for a preliminary debriefing and planning session.

“Greetings, friends,” Lotor begins as he calls the meeting to order. “I trust that you are all well-rested after a grand celebratory reception. I see many new faces, perhaps a round of introductions is in order. These are my generals, Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid,” he says as they stand at attention with a Galran salute. “You are all acquainted with your former Garrison medic, Nymuë; these are Trajan, Hadrien, and Marcus who will also be joining our ranks as specialized forces.” The latter also exhibit a high degree of discipline as they salute their new military leader, to the admiration of their new cohorts. 

“I’d like you to all meet my fiancé, Adam,” Shiro starts but is cut off by various excited and somewhat relentless hollering and shouting from every attendee. Lance was shaking his communicator screen and Hunk was jumping up and down. A few minutes elapse before Shiro is able to introduce the rest of his friends. 

After everyone exchanges pleasantries with their new acquaintances, Lotor introduces his alternate self and gives a brief preamble about their current status. After he had been rescued from the quintessence field, he had spent nearly a month in this reality while his ships were being repaired. He had been a requisite and integral force in the ultimate defeat of Haggar and Sendak, thereby purging this reality of the entrenched and protracted manifestation of evil. Upon returning to his own reality, however, they had been ejected two years into the future via a time dilation pocket at the site of his quintessence field battle. It was at this point that he turned things over to his counterpart.

“First of all, to avoid any confusion, I have been given a vast array of nicknames, the most popular of which seems to be Seph. Now, I am afraid I must forewarn you of the grim fate that await most of you in my reality. The paladins and Voltron have been missing since our last encounter; in the interim, the Fire of purification has amassed a large concentration of resources and they have savagely laid siege upon the earth. Your people did not possess technology capable of repelling them and I regret to inform you that all of the humans standing here with me and with you, Shiro, have been indiscriminately exterminated, in addition to the majority of earth’s population.”

Cut deeply by his trenchant revelation, gasps of horror and shock solely punctuated the pregnant silence that ensued. Anyone who had been standing or jumping jubilantly a moment ago had to sit down. 

“Despair not, my friends, as my intelligence indicates they have not yet been attacked. If we can avoid the time pocket, and enter the reality at the current time, we may be able to thwart their attacks.”

“Why would Sendak do that? What could he possibly want by killing all those innocent people?” exclaims Hunk with fury and frustration.

“He wants Voltron,” Shiro replies, “and he’ll be holding earth hostage to get it.”

“At the time of our arrival, there were massive armaments being built but we lacked the resources to fully infiltrate his bases. We could not determine his intentions.”

“We have Sendak’s memories,” Allura says, “we can access and interrogate them to see if they may shed light on his plans.”

“Allura, you’re a genius!” cries Pidge.

“Will that take very long?” Lance asks.

“Few hours, maybe,” we can get to work on that right away,” Pidge replies.

“There’s no need. He plans to destroy the earth with a planet killer, most likely a more powerful version of the zaiforge cannon,” Nymuë replies. “That is what they are building.”

“Wait, say what?” exclaims Hedrick, “Who the eff are you and what have you done with that sourpuss medic?” 

“Hi Hedrick, it’s nice to see you again, too.”

“What the fuck, girl, there ain’t no way you’re her.”

“We can debate my identity later,” she replies to some muffled giggles from the paladins. “While we battled him in this reality, I had the opportunity to study all of his military conquests at length. His strategy for conquering worlds is predictable, stringent, and exacting. The first strike is mercilessly severe, devastating the population, and cutting off supply routes, resources, and communication channels. He then employs a classic chokehold by waiting until the enemy is weakened by starvation and supply depletion, whereupon the time and location of battle are advantageously dictated by him. It is a well-known strategy employed by numerous commanders throughout history, both in the Galra empire and on earth. Number 4, in fact, of the thirty-six military stratagems.”

“If that’s the case, why destroy earth then?” Monty asks.

“Humans are resolute and fastidious. If there is unremitting resistance, it will be the last stage, as evidenced by the annihilation of Altea,” Lotor replies. 

“Why they have to be so evil, man? 10,000 years isn’t enough to chill the fuck out?” Dox exclaims. “You guys ready for our kickass plan? We’re gonna crack’em, hack’em, and light’em up with some sweet funky bebop.”

“What did he just say?” Seph whispers to Lotor, who shrugs.

It is at this inopportune moment that Shiro’s team is startled by a commotion behind them. “Who’s there?” Matt says forcefully. After a bit of scrambling and fierce whispering, an indignant James and sheepish Ina emerge from their hiding place. 

“What are you doing here?” Matt asks in disbelief.

“We should be asking you the same thing,” James replies. “This is insubordination! Are all of you plotting to enter another war? What will Admiral Sanda do when she finds out?”

The subsequent glare Keith gives him is nothing compared to the verbal lambasting Nymuë unleashes.

“For the last time, you milk-toothed, diaper-mook of a fuckwhelp, your rigid adherence to the rule book is what mires you in mediocrity.”

There were audible snickers as even the Lotors shook their heads. “That’s the Nymuë we all love!” laughs Hedrick. “Fuckwhelp!” he sighs. “Amazing.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t report you before you disappeared. I could have easily had you expelled for your insolent behaviour,” James retorts. “So maybe you should think twice before opening your foul mouth.” 

“Now I know why I never met her in my reality,” Seph replies. “She had been expelled from the Garrison on the eve of the paladin’s departure. I assure you, cadet, that Nymuë is unequivocally the reason the war is over in this reality and the reason my counterpart and I are still alive. I’ll not have you speaking to our highest ranked military tactician in such a manner.” 

James physically took a step back in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A couple years ago, he had initially been impressed with her impeccable academic standing and tried to befriend her but soon found himself rebuffed by her terse and recalcitrant manner. He shook his head in disbelief. First it was Keith, that undisciplined drop-out who is now the leader of Voltron and now this. He groaned internally. How humiliating.


	22. If You Can’t Beat’em, Join’em

Of all of the people who might have spoken up, the last person James expected to do so was Keith. “Hey man,” Keith starts as he sees the two turning to leave, “Her bark is worse than her bite. She tore a much larger strip off of me the first time we spoke, and you should hear the names she calls both Lotors. We could use you two in this fight. Why don’t you stay and listen?” 

The stunned cadet could only nod his appreciation. 

Lotor asks them to introduce themselves and to the subsequent howls of laughter from the group, introduces himself as a leaky-fucked goat bladder. Seph admits that he has been referred to as a refried taterfuck. Hadrien adds that no one is exempt from her verbal flagellation and states indisputably that his favourite cuss of all time was amorphous froward fuckfish. 

Hedrick couldn’t keep it together. He loved insults but this was insults on level legendary. “Oh, oh, call me something,” he wheezes between laughter.

“Balls to you, you cuttle squishfuck.”

Hedrick laughed so hard that his guffaws became high-pitched squeals and sent the whole room into a frenzy. He couldn’t believe that they were in the middle of a wartime meeting. These guys sure went to great lengths to break the tension. “Hey man, you guys are pretty cool. When this is all said and done, we should all play Monsters & Mana together. I heard you guys drew all their characters which is the most amazing thing ever.”

“What is Monsters & Mana?” asks Ina. 

“It’s an Altean version of Dungeons & Dragons. Do you guys play?” Adam replies.

Both James and Ina perk up at this revelation. “We are in the middle of creating our characters. I am a Tiefling tinkerer and he is a Wood Elf beastmaster ranger,” she says excitedly.

“Listen,” James says, “I was out of line, earlier. We shouldn’t have spied on you and jumped to conclusions.” He felt badly that he had misjudged all of them, especially Nymuë. 

Seph grins slyly. “Tell you what, James,” he says as he rests his arm on her shoulder, “we shall have Nymuë draw you your character as a peace offering. No harm, no foul,” he says to the incomprehensible laughter of team Voltron. 

After another couple hours of fleshing out a preliminary strike, the group decided to reconvene the next day in person. There were many obstacles to overcome, in particular, the mobilization of resources necessary to mount such an offensive when Seph no longer had access to central command and his own fleets. The element of surprise was of utmost importance and to maintain this advantage, it was agreed that he would not make his own presence known. The only allies they would recruit were the Blade as well as those countries on earth willing to cooperate. 

After WWIII, America had emerged once again as a superpower in the economic void, while other countries that also rose to prominence were Germany and China. Though he had initially been unwilling to endanger his new friends, Seph was appreciative of how Lotor had literally punched some sense into him and forced him to reconsider. Nymuë already served as a peace delegate to the Galra empire and was fluent in Mandarin. Her brother, Hadrien, was fluent in German, given the fact that Berlin housed the top neuroscience research facilities, and he spent much of his time travelling there. And Nymuë, Hadrien, and Marcus were ideal candidates to serve as ambassadors, given their analytical temperament, vigorous negotiation styles, extensive knowledge of history, and meticulous attention to detail. These missions would lay the groundwork to fortify earth’s defenses. 

Admiral Sanda, it was decided unanimously, would not be consulted about anything. It was clear from the abysmal performance of her counterpart in Seph’s reality that she was atrociously unknowledgeable about military history, did not subscribe to evidence-based decision making, and was therefore unfit to make decisions of such immense gravitas. Sendak’s fleet would arrive in less than two weeks. Time was short and any delays due to bureaucracy were not a luxury they could afford. She would ultimately be bypassed in both realities. Seph was going to speak directly to the leader of their country.


	23. James Griffin, Beastmaster Ranger, as drawn by Nymuë, Inktober day 24




	24. Double Trouble

It was difficult, for many of the alliance members to say good-bye to their families once more. Nevertheless, hope proliferated within their hearts, and blossomed into courage. It wasn’t everyday you had the advantage of foresight when fighting a war. They knew exactly when and where Sendak was going to strike, giving them an unprecedented advantage to level a massive surprise ambush. The largest hurdle, however, was not Sendak. As soon as they struck at him, Haggar would be aware of their presence. Their priority was incapacitating her first, and this would be the focus of their next meeting. 

The Garrison was emptied of all its students who had gone home for the winter holiday. Many instructors had also travelled home to see their families. Sam was able to secure a boardroom for their meeting, giving greater access to intelligence files and planning resources. 

Sam starts by stating, “I’ve gained clearance for phase two of the testing for Atlas. The Balmera crystal was successful in powering the ship to 80% but Coran’s ingenuity has lead us to believe the addition of the crystallized castle fragment may exceed its power requirements. Now, phase two is to occur after launch beyond earth’s orbit.” He grins slyly. “I may have neglected to mention which reality this is to occur in.”

There were some hearty chuckles as Pidge gives her dad a high five. 

Hunk steps forward with news of his project. “I’ve been working closely with Commander Korvak to ensure a successful installation of the integrated cloaking systems on all of your ships, Lotor. Final testing is complete and it’s go time, baby! They all work!” There was some excited chattering within the group, and Pidge is so excited she high fives him next. 

“Excellent work,” Lotor replies. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? Cloaking?” gasps Hedrick. “I’m already scared of you guys and we’re on the same side.” 

Dox elbows Lotor a bit. “Dude, you were smart to make an alliance with them from the start. Virtually every team Voltron member is a genius. No wonder you guys won the war so quickly.”

“Every member except Lance,” giggles Veronica. 

“Hey! How did you even get in here?” Lance fumes.

“Actually,” Allura smiles, “Lance has some redeeming qualities. He is empathetic, he is selfless, and he is quite a good marksman.”

“Aw, thanks, princess,” he replies with gratitude to which he receives a knowing nudge from Keith. 

“I’ve conferred with the rebel alliance,” begins Matt, “and there is a small group willing to come with us to assist us in this war. They will be responsible for repelling any galra fighters that breach earth’s atmosphere and will assist in relocating and shuttling refugees afterwards.”

“You have my deepest thanks,” Seph replies. 

“I’ve been speaking with my team members,” Shiro starts. “We’ve also gained clearance for phase three of Atlas testing, which involves combat simulations. The ships that are approved for release just happen to include two MFE ships. I kinda slipped that into the fine print,” he says with a wily grin. There was some crazed laughter from Pidge who shoots across the room and high fives Shiro. 

“And, thanks to Adam’s idea, we’ve got our computer virus locked and loaded.” Pidge exclaims as she gives Adam a high five. 

“We are going to obliterate his systems defences, and he goes down listening to some Guns’n Roses,” laughs Adam.

“Welcome to the jungle, bitches,” sings Dox in a falsetto, off-pitch voice. Pidge high fives him too, with a happy shout.

Kolivan steps forward and states in his usual methodical, monotone manner, “Since the successes of our previous two hostage retrievals, I have organized a task force that specializes in these delicate rescue operations. We have partnered with some of earth’s advanced rescue teams and learned much from their research and historical successes. Our gratitude to Nymuë who spearheaded the effort to create such a team. We will send along these agents to assist in retrieving the Alteans. And as per your request, Lotor, all these agents are well-versed in the anemone program, and ready to assist the Blade members of the other reality in its usage and training.”

Pidge approached him hesitantly; she wanted to high five Kolivan but he was so serious all the time. She was momentarily bewildered when he acknowledged her and offered her his open palm. She threw her head back and laughed as she slapped his hand. There were gasps of disbelief and then cheering as he gave her a fist bump as well. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with humans, haven’t you?” she cries. 

He gives a slight nod and an even slighter smile. 

“What’s anemone?” James asks. He had been quiet the entire time, taking in the phenomenal progress this overachieving group had accomplished. 

“It was originally a failsafe created by Pidge and Nymuë for my Sincline ships. I have since adapted its usage to target beings capable of teleportation. Once ensnared in its scarlet tendrils, the target’s quintessence is immediately depleted, thereby preventing escape, or attack. Anemone has been, in large part, the cornerstone of our successive victories.”

“That’s remarkable,” he admits as he scans the room. He was thanking any and all gods he didn’t actually believe in, that he didn’t have Nymuë expelled out of spite. Half the people in the room, now laughing, and jesting, could have been exterminated as an indirect consequence. He was determined to no longer be ‘mired in mediocrity’ as she put it. 

“Now we must address the crux of the matter,” Seph begins, “and that is how to defeat Haggar. Nymuë’s AI hypothesized that her likeliest location would be Oriande, given its highly restricted access and relative obscurity to the known universe.”

“Could that also be where she’s keeping the Alteans?” asks Pidge.

“It is a possibility,” he replies. 

“We’ve also been talking about this,” Adam says. “Shiro has mentioned that he catches glimpses of Haggar’s goings on; they have some sort of weird astral plane connection. He saw her enter Oriande, and felt her fight the white lion. So maybe he can pinpoint her location once you’re ready for an attack.”

“Kinda like how Zarkon used to track us down! That’s brilliant, Adam!” exclaims Hunk. 

“Will she be able to detect you as well?” asks Pidge. “Will that give away our plans?” 

“It’s hard to know at this point,” he admits. 

“This is more progress than we had anticipated, nevertheless,” Lotor admits. 

“Will you guys be taking Lotron and the blue lion?” asks Shiro.

“Yes, our original team is slated to combat her directly.”

“But Nymuë can’t enter Oriande,” Pidge replies. “Who is going to operate the left sword?”

“I can now,” she replies with a knowing smile. 

“What? Why?”

She shrugs. “It’s a surprise.”


	25. Den of Wolves

“No, girl, you can’t leave us hanging like that!” Pidge cries. 

“I agree with Pidge,” replies Hunk with mock consternation. “Friends don’t let friends... hang... like that.”

Hedrick didn’t know why he laughed so hard at that last pseudo-admonition. Everything was exceptionally funny today, which was ironic given the severity of the situation. Nymuë looks to Lotor and he smiles. 

“Okay,” she says tentatively as she rubs the back of her neck. “Surprise! We’re engaged, and expecting twin girls who both bear the mark of the chosen; the reason I was late arriving to earth was so that I could test my hypothesis. I am able to enter Oriande.”

There was a stunned silence before the entire room went ballistic. 

“OH MY GOD, why didn’t you tell us?!” yells Pidge as she throws her arms around her. Lance and Hunk also pull the two into a group hug. 

“WHAAAAT!” shrieks Hadrien as he extracts her from the group to grind his knuckles into her skull. “You monumental cluckfucking shitbird, why didn’t you tell us?!”

Hedrick added his raucous laughter to the chaotic cacophony filling the room. Amid the din, they are suddenly silenced by an incredulous and indignant exclamation. 

“Wait, you’re bringing unborn babies into a war?! You can’t do that!” protests James. 

“Thank you, James. See, that is what I said,” Seph replies as he crosses his arms, “and Lotor punched me in the gut.” Hedrick also found this to be hilarious and continued his laughing spree. 

“Is he going to be alright?” asks Ina, looking at Hedrick on the ground.

“Yeah, he’s completely useless sometimes,” Adam says neutrally.

Spurred on by his unexpected ally, James kept going. “Isn’t Haggar the most dangerous person in the history of the universe? Aren’t you risking too much by going?!” 

“This is a cruel reality of war, unfortunately,” Nymuë replies. “We have to be willing to lay our lives on the line for peace.”

“But can’t someone else do it?”

“No,” Lotor replies, his face downtrodden. “Believe me, I have looked. Just as very few of you are capable of being MFE pilots, she is the only one who can wield the left sword as a single, fluid extension of my right sword. We also need her predictive acumen as our final advantage over Haggar. Now that that is settled, I am afraid that this hostage rescue will be drastically different than the ones we successfully carried out.”

“How is that settled!?” came some whispered grumbling in the background.

“What do you mean?” asks Hunk. 

“In our reality, the Alteans were ready and willing to be rescued because we captured Haggar before she could indoctrinate them. However, we fear Haggar will have used her influence, her powers, and her appearance to subjugate them to her whim.”

“So they’ll basically think we’re the bad guys?!” asks Adam.

“Indeed.”

“This makes everything so much harder,” Pidge laments. “How do you rescue people who don’t want to be rescued?”

“My mantra consists of only five words,” Nymuë says. “Persuasion is greater than force. It is how I convinced all of you to befriend Lotor. It is how you were empowered to rescue him. It is how we eroded Sendak’s campaign. It was the guiding precept for all of Lotor’s speeches. It lay the foundation for our victory in this war. It is how we will rescue the Alteans. And it is how I will parent my children when we win.”

“Hostage retrieval is a perilous operation in the best of times,” Adam says. “What do you guys have in mind?”

“Napoleon Bonaparte was a renowned military leader during the French Revolution and claimed large swaths of territory throughout Europe via numerous successful campaigns. He said ‘three hostile newspapers are more to be feared than 100,000 thousand bayonets’,” Nymuë says with vigour. “During our interrogation of Haggar, I made sure to record everything she said. The power of suggestion can ruin someone’s reputation in a matter of moments.”

“So you plan to break down their resistance by eroding their trust in her,” Adam replies with a thoughtful nod. “What is your strategy for accessing and distributing this information to them?”

“There is only one person who can access Oriande without being detected,” Lotor replies. “Haggar can sense the Altean energy of a fully grown adult, and of transreality comet ore, and will be able to detect anyone of us: Allura, Romelle, myself, and Seph, upon entry.”

They all reluctantly and agonizingly look to Nymuë. So that was the plan. She was going in alone into a den of wolves, much like a sacrificial lamb. 

“You can’t,” Pidge cries as she shakes her head. “You can’t do this, she’ll be defenceless. If Haggar finds her, no you can’t do this!” 

“That is what I said! I must draw the line here. I cannot allow you to do this for me.” Seph insists. He hadn’t heard this last part of plan and was devastated that she was risking everything for a reality that wasn’t even her own.

“Bonaparte also said ‘ability is of little account without opportunity.’ We have the capability to defeat the Komar Robeast. But to do so with minimal loss of life necessitates me to do this. I have to create an opening for you.”

“You can’t even contact us, though! The interference from the white hole cuts off all contact!” exclaims Hunk in a bid to dissuade her. 

“My quantum entanglement transceivers will solve that problem. I tested them while I was in Oriande.”

“What if Haggar finds you?” Lance asks. 

“I will have cloaking on both myself and anemone.”

“What if...”

Nymuë stops any further questioning with her last statement. “If you worry about what could go wrong, you may miss a chance to do something great.”


	26. Brothers in Arms

Seph was so distraught he left the room in despair. Shiro and Adam briefly glanced at each other before they both followed him. Lance also noticed and went to see if he could help. They watched him pace back and forth for a while before he said, “Never could I have foreseen her role in Monsters & Mana was but an ill-fated omen. I cannot allow her to do this. I can’t lose her... again. Neither should I be endangering all of you.”

Shiro sympathetically put his hand on his shoulder and was moved by how much Lotor cared for all of his new friends. “You know what? We won that M&M campaign because of our teamwork. If we work together again, we will give her the best possible chance of success.” He watched as Seph shakily exhaled his distress before he continued.

“Change of plans. We provide a large enough distraction that Haggar will be looking in all the wrong places. They don’t know who we are, where we’re from, or what we’re capable of. We move in with Atlas, and the rebel forces to attack Sendak’s fleet. Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid will pilot your Sincline ships to make her think that you are going on the offensive against Sendak. The other Sincline ships, and the blue lion, meanwhile, will be cloaked and waiting to provide back-up at Oriande.”

Seeing that this plan only somewhat alleviated Seph’s anguish, Adam steps up and sets his hand on his other shoulder. “And what if we double her chances by taking the remainder of Voltron, Kolivan’s hostage rescue team, and employ a similar tactic to rescue the leftover Alteans who are still housed on Arus by striking at the same time. We will need Trajan and Commander Korvak to medically manage the unconscious, Coran who will lead the Alteans to board the ships, and some specialized pilots to provide cover fire and distraction. Ina is a superb analytical tactician and would be an asset in such a task force.”

“Haggar will not be able to anticipate a strike on Oriande because she has no idea there are any people present from another reality capable of breaching it. By her calculations, all her enemies would be accounted for in these two strikes,” Shiro continues.

Seph exhales another shaky breath but weakly smiles his gratitude as he says, “Thank you. I am tremendously grateful for everything.”

Lance hits him and says smugly, “Dude, you can’t fool us. Those are your twins, aren’t they?”

He looks at them in astonishment. Shiro and Adam also smile knowingly. “Don’t worry,” Shiro says. “We’re uncles now. We won’t let anything happen to your babies.”


	27. Avuncular Flair

“How can you be so certain?” Seph asks.

Just as Shiro was about to reply, Lotor came out shortly thereafter and said in an unsympathetic manner, “Did Shiro talk some sense into you or do I have to punch you again?”

This was the first time Seph was ready to beat the living shit out of his other self. That son of a shit-eating mongrel was going to get it, no-holds-barred, if one more lame-ass thing came out of his stupid-ass mouth. 

Lotor smiled at his fury and said, “When I first gave you the comet material and the castle fragment, did you think it was because it was pretty?”

Seph furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“Did you think I wanted you to make a simple hair comb out of such exquisitely rare materials for vanity’s sake?”

Seph didn’t answer. He was trying to think of all the possible uses such a small amount of those materials could yield. 

“Your silence suggests you haven’t activated it yet.”

Shiro continues to say, “I may not be an Altean alchemist, but I have a connection with the astral plane. I can channel my consciousness into Adam’s ring and find him at any point in space. I also know when he is in danger.”

“You...” Seph is interrupted at this point, as Pidge hurriedly ushers them back into the conference room. 

“I deeply appreciate that all of you are concerned for me,” Nymuë says, “but you needn’t worry excessively. Haggar has one weakness and I have every intention of mercilessly exploiting it unto victory.”

“Wait, what? She does?!” came a chorus of astonished replies. 

“We would not have been able to determine its existence without the advantage of comparing events in both realities,” Lotor explains. “Additionally, it is how I successfully plotted her downfall here. However, there is much to be done and I would ask that you now focus on your respective missions. Precision, timing, and accuracy are paramount. We will strike in two days time.”

As the four of them stand against the wall near the door, Shiro slaps Seph on the shoulder and chuckles a bit. “You know, you’ve softened up quite a bit since we first met you. Didn’t you try to kill all of the paladins in your own reality? And now you can’t even bear to send us off to war.”

Seph groans and the look of guilt on his face causes all three of them to laugh. 

“I understand why Nymuë saved you,” Shiro says quietly as he draws a deep breath and looks into the distance. “Knowing that Adam dies in your reality without our intervention is too painful for me to imagine. I would risk my life to protect him as well.”

Adam looks at him with immense affection as he gently grasps his forearm. 

“When this is all over, we’ll take your kids out for ice cream and spoil them rotten,” Lance grins widely. “I love babies.”

“Do you mean to tell me that humans indulge the whims of their children unto excess?!”

“No, only uncles, aunts, and grandparents do that.”

“I do not understand.”

“Don’t worry, man,” Lance beams. “You’ll get it soon enough.”


	28. Paucity of Preamble

A scouting party of four is airdropped on Arus in the dead of night from a cloaked ship in Seph’s reality. They infiltrated the underground base without hindrance; Lady Luck was on their side tonight as it was exactly the same configuration as the one in Lotor’s reality, right down to the passwords. As they completed their surreptitious surveillance, the intel was exactly as expected. Sixteen druids, numerous sentries, and drones, were present. The Alteans were split between two wings, most of whom were secured in a holding area, whereas the remainder were detained in an experimentation wing. These Alteans seemed terrified of their surroundings and likely were the remnant population not of much use to Haggar. 

After the intel is quickly relayed to the allies, the advance guard of Blades from both realities are released. One of their first duties upon entering Seph’s reality was to contact the Kolivan of this realm and forewarn him of the grim fate that awaited them. Numerous members were subsequently trained in the use of anemone, ready and waiting for druidic attacks. Others were secretly dispatched to the alliance to aid in their fight against Haggar. Unlike the other reality, these druids had no idea the allies were coming for them and were, therefore, vastly underprepared. 

With phase two initiated, so began the systematic druid purge. As the agents silently crept along benighted corridors and ventilation shafts, cloaked anemone pods were deftly released with each druid encounter. It was an insidiously beautiful sight each time the palmary red tendrils so easily ensnared their targets, bleeding them dry of the very life energy they so heinously evacuated from innumerable worlds. With the element of surprise on their side, all druids present were exterminated without any loss of life for the alliance members. 

There was some confusion among the Alteans; some were trusting of Coran while others remained skeptical. All traces of doubt, however, were washed away as soon as he played a recording of Haggar snarling that their precious Alteans would rot before they were ever found. It was not the Haggar from their reality, but what they didn’t know definitely would not hurt them in this case. The hostages were efficiently shunted into awaiting shuttles. 

Adam, Dox, Hedrick, and Monty piloted the shuttles of the escape team while Ina and James downed any Galra fighters attempting to shoot them out of the sky. By the time word of their infiltration had reached the nearest galra fleet, the allies had already destroyed every record in the base and escaped with uploaded files of Haggar’s research. 

The baffled galra commander could not pursue the fleeing cloaked vessels and slammed the nearest lieutenant commander headfirst into a console. He frantically tried to hail Sendak and inform him of impending attack but could not get through. Just as his lieutenant stood up, he pummelled him once more. 

As dawn shone its first rays over the Arusian landscape in this reality, the Arusians awoke placated, and peaceable, never knowing the fierce battle for freedom fought just a stone’s throw away from their doorsteps.


	29. Of Strawberry Curls and Strawberry Candy

The reassurance and relief of their first successful mission was punctured by an unrelenting wailing in Adam’s shuttle. He allowed Commander Ashok to take over as he went to investigate the source of distress: his first thoughts were filled with fear and trepidation of an overlooked injured party. Commander Korvak and Trajan were assisting on other shuttles carrying the most severely wounded, while he had taken on the healthiest and most able-bodied Alteans. As he was lamenting the fact that he only had basic first aid training, he discovered an inconsolable toddler, refusing the touch or comfort of anyone. 

“Does anyone know what is wrong?” Adam asks. “Where are her parents?”

“I’m afraid that is precisely what is wrong, sir,” replies an elderly woman. “Her single mother was taken by Honerva and we have not heard any word from her since their departure.”

Adam thinks for a moment before he reaches for his first aid kit. He pulls out a medical glove, inflates it like a balloon, and draws a face on it. “Hello, everyone,” he cries in a falsetto voice as he parades the balloon around, “has anyone seen Commander Ashok?” 

The strawberry-haired child momentarily stops crying as she looks at the goofy balloon with a mixture of dismay and amusement. “You are the perfect little girl!” He continues in a sing-song voice. “Will you help me find him?” She pauses for a moment before she lifts up her hands for him to carry her. “Wow,” the balloon carries on, “I like you already! What’s your name?”

“A... Aria,” she says softly as she sniffles and wipes her tears.

“Okay, Aria, let’s go find the quiznacking duflax who stole my candies.” He takes her in his arms, heads toward the cockpit, and is pleased to see the corners of her mouth curl into a smile. 

As they approach Ashok, Adam summons the most ridiculous voice he can muster and exclaims with gusto, “There he is! We found him! Halt, in the name of the law!” 

Without missing a beat, Ashok turns the shuttle on autopilot and throws his hands up. “No, you caught me red handed,” he cries in an equally comical voice as Adam starts hitting him with the balloon. 

“That’s what you get for stealing my candies! Take that, and that!”

“No, you got me! It’s cold, oh so cold... “ Ashok chokes as he collapses on the floor. 

It was the funniest thing little Aria had ever seen and soon the shuttle resounded with her hysterical laughter. When she finally calmed down, Ashok pulled out a roll of Hunk’s strawberry chews and offered her one. After eating three of them, she climbed back into Adam’s lap and refused to let go. 

“It’s ok, man,” Ashok smiles, “I can take it from here.”

As she sipped quietly from a water pack, Adam recounted some of his favourite childhood stories under a magnificent starry expanse from within the cockpit. She fell asleep in his arms and he held her until they arrived at their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fairly certain balloons are a human thing. I couldn’t imagine being an Altean toddler seeing a balloon for the first time. OMG.


	30. A Catatomic Secret

Druid 1: Arus has fallen. They were able to rescue the Alteans. It seems the red and black lion have returned; we must inform Haggar immediately.  
Druid 2: One of our own escaped the surprise ambush and also determined there were Blade members among the humans.  
Druid 1: It is of no consequence. Our plans have accelerated. We will return tenfold what they have unleashed upon us. Our intel indicates their most likely destination will be the Olkari planet. We will target the masses to lure the Voltron lions there. Then we will ensure the remainder of the Blade are dispatched there.  
Druid 3: By the time the lions and the Blade arrive, there will be nothing left to save.

Meanwhile, Sendak’s lieutenant indicates they have received an urgent hail. A staticky transmission informs them that the green paladin has been captured after a failed attempt at infiltration. The locations of the lions, as well as the schematics for a new weapon the humans have must be sent immediately as they are under heavy fire from two Voltron lions and may not last much longer. The encrypted files are received without hesitation.

While Adam’s team was operating on Arus, and as the red and black lion were incapacitating surrounding Galra fleets, Shiro’s team had located Sendak’s armada and was preparing their own ambush. The latter were in the midst of battle preparations and were still within proximity of Arus, given the Javeeno star system was Sendak’s occupied territory. The allies would not have any internal Blade informants, since their identities had been compromised during Seph’s absence, and central command overtaken. Although Sendak had been subdued quite efficaciously in Lotor’s reality, and therefore not operating from the same locations, all of his passwords were the same. 

Landing the cloaked green lion, Pidge disembarks with Shiro, Ezor and two Blade operatives onto the planet’s surface where they silently infiltrate a docked battle cruiser, as it was being loaded with supplies. To incapacitate the entire ship without sounding any alarms, they would be using their classified tech. It had not been revealed in any of the meetings, and not even to any of the allies, until it was time to strike. 

Earlier in the day, Pidge took one glance at Shiro as he was preparing to board the ship and burst into laughter.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going in that get up!?” She couldn’t believe he was wearing his stage costume. “Are you going to scratch the Galra to death?” she asks incredulously as she looks at his ridiculous cat-eared helmet. 

“I dunno, Pidge,” Ezor smirks, “he’s catastrophically pretty if you ask me.”

“This is the secret tech Lotor and Nymuë have been developing. How do you think we decloaked on stage during the concert?”

“Wait, that wasn’t a stage trick?”

“No, these suits are not only quintessence impermeable, and have cloaking capabilities, but they have comet material woven into the fabric, powered by a single fragment of the crystallized castle. I can teleport at will with the neuro-interface that is located in my helmet like the druids do.”

“SAY WHAT?!” 

“Our stage costumes were a prototype... but these ones are the real deal.”

“This is how we will take out an entire battle cruiser without them ever knowing at all. You ready to go yet?”

“I’ve learned some expressions since I met you guys,” Ezor says, “and all I have to say to you is what the cluster of fucks on fucking sticks! You’ve got to be kidding me. Holy shitballs.”

Shiro laughs at her novel attempt at swearing. It was as amusing as Romelle’s anachronistic Altean verbiage. 

With Shiro’s newfound powers, the battle cruiser fell in record time. With phase one completed successfully, phase two was initiated. Sendak’s battle cruiser accepted the encrypted files which would immediately wreak havoc with their computer systems.


	31. Friday is Fun

“Commander Sendak, sir, we’ve decrypted the files but they don’t seem to be working,” lieutenant Hepta says.

“Well, fix it then! Try something different!” snarls Sendak.

“Yes sir, I’m attempting to decrypt with a different series of codes. Hold on, sir, I think I’m getting something.”

Their systems suddenly begin to power down one by one, with energy rerouted exclusively to their communications channels, as an obnoxiously loud music video is looped to play ad nauseum.

Earlier in the week, Commander Ashok took Pidge, Hedrick, and Dox aside after their meetings. 

“Okay, guys, lemme get this straight,” Ashok says in disgust. “You are planning to play Welcome to the Jungle?!”

“Well, yeah, it’s so badass,” Dox replies excitedly. “We’re gonna overload their ears with some sweet ‘80s ro...”

“How is it that I’m new to your culture and can already say that’s a terrible idea. Sendak doesn’t deserve 80s hard rock!!” Ashok interrupts. “Just leave the song selection to me. They get one song played on repeat.”

“Okay, what about rick rolling him?” Pidge asks with a grin.

“No, he doesn’t even deserve Rick Astley.”

Back on Sendak’s cruiser, the crew are covering their ears in agony. Nothing they do can turn off the horrible sounds resounding throughout the ship. “What is this awful noise?!” he growls.

“I believe it is called Friday, by Rebecca Black, Commander, sir.”


	32. Arc Flash

This was the first time Nymuë had outrightly lied to everyone. Whether there would really be very many Alteans in Oriande was irrelevant. Her main objective was not to convince the Alteans of Haggar’s duplicity, as she had stated; her ultimate goal was to take down Haggar herself. As much as she had logically reasoned all her life that fate was merely a human construct, and that no supernatural variables played into one’s destiny, it paradoxically felt like this was her raison d’être. It was completely irrational, and she was not someone who was overtly given to emotion. Had she told the truth, Seph would have never allowed it. But this was war. And the art of all war is deception. There was one more reason she couldn’t tell them the truth. No one was to ever know this, and she was determined that this secret would die with her. So she pretended that she would use Haggar’s weakness against her, it being her soft spot for her son. She didn’t actually think monologuing about her undying love for Lotor against an all powerful witch would help her much. 

Following tearful goodbyes from her friends, and a fierce embrace from Seph, she launched toward the white hole. Although they knew she would not meet resistance, it was incredibly surreal to witness a non-Altean gain entry. 

“Why is the lion doing that?!” exclaims Romelle. “That’s not what it did the first time!” The others could only look on in perplexity as it enshrouded her in light. 

“I have not come across anything comparable that could explain this,” Lotor shakes his head.

“Nor I,” Seph replies with bated breath.

She too, wore a teal streaked, onyx-hued suit like Shiro did, its abilities giving marginal solace to her anxiety-wracked friends. As she made her way toward the ancient temple, she activated her cloaking. She could sense it. The crackling and bubbling of fury and malice was unmistakable. Haggar knew she was there as well. 

“Who are you?” Haggar ventures, genuinely baffled by this foreign and unfamiliar presence. 

“Oh, you know, I’m just your friendly, neighbourhood daughter-in-law.”

Of all of the answers Haggar anticipated, this was definitely not one of them. Nevertheless, she was too ancient and wary to be caught off guard. She was preparing to strike, as soon as she determined her opponent’s location.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you; Lotor would be so mad if you killed his unborn babies.”

“You are lying. You expect me to believe he sent his pregnant wife to combat me?!” Haggar cackled. It was a genuinely amusing thought. There she was. She found her. Without warning, an sizzling beam of luminous energy is discharged toward Nymuë’s location but she had already disappeared. 

“I told you, that’s not a good idea. You really want to murder his twin daughters? Just like you murdered his friends?”

“That’s enough! You will regret ever having spoken...”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, so this is what it’s like having an evil mother-in-law. Man, you don’t even know my name and you want to kill me. My god, how are you so bad at this?”

“You are not my daughter.” She unleashes a burst of violet energy but it thunderously arcs back to herself, burning her dominant hand.

“See, I told you it was a bad idea.”

Haggar sends multiple streams of attacks, but this time, the arc flashes become a violent arc blast, searing the originator with deep burns, the massive pressure of its shockwave knocking her to the ground. 

“A good mother listens to her children. You never listened to Lotor, nor did you care about what he liked or disliked. You’ve lived for over ten millennia and can’t even tell me his favourite colour. Shame, really.”

This struck a chord, somehow. “I had no control over the events that lead to my transformation into Haggar.”

“Let’s put it this way. It used to be orange until you forced him to witness the fiery destruction of the people he cared about. Now large amounts of orange are too traumatic a reminder for him.”

Haggar was livid as she tried to heal herself. This foe knew exactly how to get under her skin. She would allow no further footholds, and steeling her revolve, she replies with venom, “I don’t know how you got in here, but you and your kind will rue the day you betrayed my son and left him to die.” Honerva moved to strike, her palmar fulminous energy at the ready, but stopped short at Nymuë’s piercing cross-examination. 

“As irresponsible and myopic as ever, aren’t you? How many people know of this place? Who do you think granted me access?”

“Lotor does not have the capability of opening Oriande to a non-Altean. Do you think you can fool me with your lies?”

“As Haggar, you have caused him innumerable lifetimes of irreparable pain. You killed his friends. You killed the ones he loved. You have hurt him more than any other being in the universe. He would never forgive you if you killed his children.”

Honerva stood speechless. “You can’t be...”

Nymuë continues with her scathing fustigation. “I am the one who saved him from the quintessence field, and I carry his children. You, however, are derelict and distorted, utterly deserving of his unequivocal disapprobation. If you think you are free from responsibility from the events that transformed you into Haggar, you are foolishly mistaken. With immensurate power comes commensurate responsibility. Your experiments ultimately destroyed billions of lives. The Alteans were peacemakers and diplomats, valuing life above all else. If you have a shred of compunction left, any sliver of compassion for your son, you will surrender under the sheer weight of your incomparable depravity and wickedness.”

As Honerva stands stock still for the slightest of moments under the vise-grip of her inerrant execration, Nymuë swiftly activates anemone. 

“What... is this? she rasps.

“It is my own invention: it is how I saved him from the quintessence field, and it is how I am saving him from you.”

“What are you...”

Nymuë does not answer her. She would only possess her power for the interim of her pregnancy, from the intermingling of maternal and fetal blood. As she places her open palm on Honerva’s chest, she strips her of any providence granted by the ancient Alteans, and any capabilities she gained as Haggar. As her depleted enemy collapses to the ground, she utters, “how could you possibly... it is not an ability we were given...”

“I figured it out,” she replies coldly. “I neither fought nor yielded to the white lion, bitch, I tamed it. I am a healer, and my purpose has always been to protect life, not to sever it. You, on the other hand, are a blight on the universe. A malignant growth, immortal like the cancerous cells that usurp the life from a healthy body, one that has murdered billions of innocent lives. Once my purification is complete, you will be mortal once more, a mortal whose time has long since past. It is time to go, Honerva. Good-bye.”

As all of her power is forcibly extracted from her body, she begins to age exponentially. In her last moments, Honerva regains full lucidity, and she acknowledges Nymuë, stridorously whispering, “Take care of my son...”

Nymuë was determined no one would ever hear of this conversation and allow the taming of white lion to be lost to the knowledge of mortals. She never intended to reveal her secret because it was too a great a power to be entrusted to anyone, even the ones she loved. For in those nine months, she held the power of both creation and destruction itself. However, as in the perpetual game of chess that she played, Lotor and Seph were one step ahead of her and witnessed the entire exchange.


	33. Checkmate

Seph was beside himself, pacing, and muttering. “She lied to us! I can’t believe she lied to us. She’s engaging Haggar directly! If Haggar doesn’t kill her, I’m going to kill her myself,” he fumes as he watches her approach Haggar in the temple.

“How do you know?” Allura asks.

“We can see everything from her vantage point from the activated hair combs. They power her suit but are also connected to their creators.” He pauses to look at Lotor who was taking everything in stride. “You seem pretty calm about THE FACT THAT SHE LIED TO US.”

“I have lied to her plenty of times,” he shrugs. “You also have deceived everyone around you.”

“But you and I are different. This is what we were taught. Nymuë doesn’t lie! What is she thinking?”

“In her words,” Lotor continues stoically, “the art of war is deception. She accurately predicted your response to her actions and therefore chose to leave us in the dark. Now be still, I am trying to listen. The witch is getting the thrashing of a thousand lifetimes.”

“Tell us what is happening, please,” Romelle asks.

Seph watches in complete disbelief as Haggar’s most powerful attacks are not just deflected, as was true to Nymuë’s philosophy, but redirected easily back to their source. They continue to watch in stunned silence as they learn of her secret and opt not to voice it aloud. The wild range of emotions upon hearing Honerva utter her last words was earth-shattering for Seph. Before either of them can say anything, Nymuë sends a hail to the Sincline ships anxiously awaiting her response. “I do not have time to explain, but Haggar is defeated. Before she was, however, I was able to connect with her thoughts. We must make our way to Olkarion immediately. The druids will likely strike at the vulnerable refugees.”

Earlier in the week, during one of their meetings, Shiro raised a key point.

“How would we get Atlas into the other reality? I thought only ships made of transcomet material can pass through the quintessence field?”

“I don’t know if it can,” Hunk and Pidge say simultaneously. “We’ve been trying to come up with a solution, but we just don’t have the time.”

“We don’t need Atlas,” Nymuë replies, resting her chin on her hand and looking out a nearby window. 

“What? Why not?”

“Just trust me on this one. We have a weapon more powerful than Atlas. But honestly, at this point, I think using it would be overkill.”

“What do you mean,” asks Lance.

“The ancient temple in Oriande is actually a ship. But we won’t need to use it. No matter what they do, I will have taken out their queen. No matter what their next moves are, this is checkmate.”


	34. Titans of Old

While she awaited the arrival of the blue lion, Nymuë had managed to track down several of the Alteans Honerva had with her in Oriande. They had been simultaneously wary of, and bewildered by, this stranger clad in a feline-themed space suit, but were eventually receptive to her explanation of Honerva’s true identity as Haggar. After they watched the videos she presented, and were reassured to know Lotor was now on his way to retrieve them, some of them even surrendered sensitive intel. They had been hand-picked by Honerva to serve as her elite soldiers against their enemies, humans who had supposedly killed their saviour, Lotor. This sojourn into Oriande was ultimately a test to determine their magical abilities, and a place to house them out of harm’s reach. Of course, the witch had never fully revealed Oriande’s secrets, for fear of an uprising, Nymuë noticed. Honerva had said they were special, and were the only ones who could operate her Robeasts. After all their enemies were destroyed: the Galra, the humans, and their allies, they would rebuild a new Altea in peace and prosperity. The discussion was interrupted at this point by the grand arrival of the blue lion. The Alteans were star-struck by the legendary Voltron lion, by Princess Allura from stories of old, and by Lotor, both of whom they thought had perished. 

It was not lost on anyone present how excruciatingly attentive and tender Lotor was to the weird cat lady. She had just taken down the most powerful witch in the universe, fool, she didn’t need to hold onto his arm. Why wasn’t he more interested in the princess?! Wouldn’t they make the most romantic couple? If the Alteans had thought this development was unfathomably odd, they were completely unprepared to find another Lotor awaiting them inside his ships. One of them actually fainted.

As Allura briefed the Alteans on their current status, and Romelle tended to the unconscious one, Lotor hailed their friends. “Adam, Ashok,” Lotor says via the communicators, “we have reason to believe an attack is imminent on Olkarion. Operation Hyperion is a go. We shall arrive shortly, however, enormous danger is upon you until then.”

“Copy that, gold leader,” Ashok says with a goofy grin as Adam stifles a laugh. 

One of the Alteans, gasped and exclaimed, “That human is carrying Aria! Wait, where is Gaiya?! We forgot about her!”

“Who is Gaiya?” asks Allura.

“She is Aria’s mother and she was with us in Oriande. She had originally arrived when Honerva started refurbishing the temple but I have not laid eyes on her since her arrival. She was acting strangely the entire time.”

“What do you mean strangely?” Nymuë asks suspiciously. 

“It’s hard to describe but it’s like she wasn’t herself anymore. Her cheeriness had departed and she was but a shell of her former self. Very rigid and overly serious.”

“If Haggar was indeed redeveloping the ancient technology, and Gaiya was behaving erratically, then this is ominous news,” Seph replies.


	35. Verisimilitude of Vermillion

Unbeknownst to Nymuë and the Alteans, Gaiya had hidden herself and watched the final battle against Honerva. Having concealed herself quite a distance away, she was only able to visually observe the downfall of Honerva, and had no inkling of the condemning conversation occurring between the two. She then watched with horror as the evil cat lady cast a spell over her friends and convinced them to follow her willingly. With fury boiling over, viciously muttering her vitriol, she left before the arrival of the blue lion. They would pay, they would all pay with their lives for this treachery. She was Honerva’s chosen one. She would activate the ancient ship; no one could possibly comprehend what was coming, for it was, in fact, a Titan of Old. First Altea. And then Lotor. And now, his beloved mother. Vengeance belonged to Altea. This was justice and liberty for Aria, for Valfor, and for all Alteans. With her final transformation occurring prior to the allies’ arrival, Honerva’s control did not break or even bend with her death. The conditioning she had undergone had wiped away any conflicting emotions; she was single-mindedly Honerva’s perfect soldier, her right hand, her... daughter.

As she stood in the central chamber and placed her palms on the dual consoles, the temple shook and groaned with ageless might, breaking free of its sackless slumber, awakening its sundry secrets. The power flowing through her was incomparable, a heady intoxication leaving her lusting for more. By the end of the day, the ground of Olkarion would be stained with the blood of her enemies, a beautiful, brilliant vermillion of death and destruction.


	36. Anemone Shells and Kitschy Tails

“What are we going to do?” one of the Alteans named Reina asks. “We have to go back to get her!”

“Wait,” Nymuë says, “before we act, I must disclose what I have learned.” She turns to the Lotors and says, “remember that day we were talking about shutthefucupcakes? Our ideas were not too far from the truth. But instead of the void creatures being ancient enemies of the lifegivers, they are merely an evil essence that was forcibly extracted from actual Alteans and exiled to the fringes between realities, where their powers are suppressed by the overwhelming nature of quintessence. They infected Zarkon and Honerva, and through Honerva, were able to expand their control. Like viruses, they have no will, and no goal, but happen to be proficient at proliferating, multiplying, and conquering. Her goal to obtain Voltron wasn’t because it was a threat to the Galra empire. It was to open a hole in the fabric of realities and allow the creatures to escape, infect, multiply, and conquer. She never freed herself from their stranglehold, even as Honerva.” Nymuë stopped short of revealing that she was the one who ultimately released her. “I had no choice but to take her life with anemone,” she muttered, looking at the floor. 

Seph threw a fleeting glance at Lotor who returned it with a skeptical look. She was an unpracticed liar and they would question her later. However, they also knew her well enough to understand the reason behind her nondisclosure. She continued to say, “I tell you all of this because there is no way to reverse the infection in those she has under her control.” This, of course, was another lie but pragmatically, it did not matter. They were going to have to battle Gaiya in what was likely a perversion of an ancient Robeast. 

“Meaning we will have to fight her,” Lotor says to complete her thoughts to the rest of the group. 

“She’s coming,” Nymuë says. As the words are leaving her mouth, everyone turns to see an enormous ancient Altean hoplite warrior emerging from the white hole. The team is momentarily awestruck by the appearance of the guardian lion seizing the giant warrior in its massive jaws and firing several energy beams point blank. Only Lotor looks back to see Nymuë struggling under the enormous effort of controlling something that powerful. 

Seph immediately hails Shiro’s team and inquires about their status because they would have to hasten to Olkarion in their stead. Team Veritas was under attack by one of Haggar’s massive beasts. 

Meanwhile, with Sendak’s ship incapacitated, an immediate unconditional surrender was demanded by Shiro on behalf of emperor Lotor. Sendak of course refused and called for reinforcements, leaving the allies no choice but to fire upon his ship. At the last minute, as Pidge is reviewing files stolen from the boarded battle cruiser, they discover that the Korvak and Ashok of this reality are Sendak’s underlings. 

“We’re going to have to board their vessel and take out Sendak one-on-one. I refuse to kill Ashok and Korvak,” Pidge says firmly. 

“Who am I to disagree with that? I think Sendak needs a little throttling for killing Adam and millions of people in this reality, anyway,” Shiro says with a grin as he punches his palm. Vengeance was not his mantra but this was Adam we were talking about. He also wasn’t into punishing people for future crimes but he was willing to make an exception this time.

Zethrid, Ezor, and Shiro infiltrate Sendak’s ship while Hunk, Pidge, and Acxa secure the remainder of the fleet with their lions and the Sincline Robeast, corralling the darkened ships into an energy barrier. 

As the generals easily swept the ship, taking out sentries, drones, and armed soldiers, Shiro headed straight for the bridge. Sendak was attempting to obtain a status report when he was viciously knocked across the room, flying headfirst into a support pillar. The cloaking automatically dissipated on contact, and Shiro could have caught him with anemone but he was going to give Sendak the abject defeat he deserved. He was faster and stronger in his transcomet suit, and his opponent could not match his speed. The flurry of strikes was relentless and inerrant, whittling away the stamina and resistance of his foe. 

Increasingly desperate against this unknown and unidentifiable assailant, Sendak also realized that with fatigue, his moves were becoming predictable, and he would have to go straight for the kill. The distraction that he needed came at just the right time. The door slid open and Zethrid came in to assist. As Shiro pushed her out of the way of Sendak’s cybernetic arm, he found himself entrapped in its tightening death grip. He tried to teleport but the connection had been severed. Zethrid moved to charge but Sendak merely caught her by the neck and began to choke her. As the Galran commander smugly chortled his victorious delight, Zethrid watched as Shiro’s tail drops an anemone pod and ensnares its target in a flash. 

As Sendak is unceremoniously depleted of his energy, he drops both of his captives to the ground. Zethrid coughs and sputters in relief. 

“Since when was your tail prehensile? I thought it was just for show. Like a really tacky, kitschy, gaudy show,” she says with a gruff laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I had the option of waiting until S8 came out for accuracy’s sake or just BSing my way through Honerva’s motivations. Figured nobody wants to wait so here you have it. A big pile of BS.


	37. Here Kitty, Kitty

After disabling the Galra fleets, Keith and Lance head to Olkarion’s surface to meet with the leaders and assist in the evacuation efforts. As they disembarked from their lions, Keith was taken aback by Lance’s new suit and couldn’t stop looking at him. He hadn’t been present for the concert and it was his first time seeing it.

“Lance,” he begins hesitantly, “why... are you wearing a cat costume?”

“These are our new suits: they have transreality material woven into them so I’m faster, stronger, and I can teleport.”

“But why are you a cat?”

“Well, I didn’t really understand the explanation. Something like how you need two eyes to see depth perception and you need two ears to triangulate teleportation distance.”

“Do you purr?”

“NO! I don’t purr. Why would you think that?”

“What if I scratched your belly?” He actually tried to do that and an increasingly embarrassed Lance swatted his hand away.

Keith was also kind of mesmerized by the tail twitching back and forth. “Can I touch your tail?”

“What? No!”

Keith grabbed it anyway and ran his hand along it causing Lance to shiver. “Whoa, you can feel that?”

“You touch me again, pretty boy, and I’ll bite your head off,” Lance growls.


	38. Space Ninjas and their Space Onions

“We’ve received word that Lance and Keith are on Olkarion already. The evacuation is already underway,” Ashok says as he puts on his helmet. “We will be entering the atmosphere shortly. “I need to regroup with Lance to provide protection against the druids; we’ll be the first line of defence.”

“By yourselves?” exclaims Adam. “You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t think you understand how powerful this suit is. It is on par with a Voltron lion. They were so difficult to make, we only have four of them. Don’t worry about me. Take care of the kid and the Alteans in the underground bunker. You’re their last line of defence.” 

It is at this moment that Aria wakes up. She gasps when she sees Commander Ashok. “Kitty!” she squeals. “KITTY!” She immediately crawls into his lap and gives him a hug. Adam was really moved by the chubby little arms encircling his head as she plants a wet kiss on the helmet. Ashok tickles her with his tail until she can’t breathe and seeks refuge in Adam’s arms again. 

“Man, this tail is so amazing. I can pilot the shuttle and babysit at the same time. Never gonna give this suit up, baby!”

To Aria’s delight, he sings her a hilarious falsetto rendition of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’ 

Even as he laughed, Adam had a sickened feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Haggar had taken Aria’s mother, there was a chance she wasn’t coming back. As he held her even tighter under the weight of this realization, and automatically kissed her head, she looks up at him and asks, “Are you Dada?”

“I...” he hesitated, and adjusted his glasses, unsure of how to proceed. He finally says, “I’ll take care of you if we can’t find your Mama, ok?” 

Just as Adam was struggling to hold his tears back, Ashok sniffles and says, “stupid space ninjas chopping space onions.”


	39. Cataclysm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is payback for massacring the Blade in S7.

The druids descended upon a bustling Olkarion city with a haughty viciousness, relishing the finality of their strike. As they approached, the terrified citizens fled before them as they caught sight of the sinister cloaked figures. It was an unorthodox approach; so confident were they in their newfound abilities, they didn’t even attempt a surprise attack or strategized ambush. Their only intent was a merciless massacre.

A crackling void of dark energy destroys the base of a nearby communication tower and several more blast through a series of defenceless domiciles. After toying with their victims a little longer, they moved to locate and eliminate their main targets: the blade and the paladins. Oh, and there he was. The Black Lion. All by his lonesome. It was clear his allies had not yet arrived, for the other lions were attacking Sendak’s fleet. What incompetence to spread themselves so thin.

“The Black Lion is attempting to lead us away from the city,” a druid remarks with menacing amusement.

“We are not so foolish to fall for such childish tricks. We will instead lure him here.”

The druids converged on the city centre, befouling and entrapping an ever weakening foe, powerless against their incomparable might. As the metal beast was brought to the ground in a final display of fulminous fury, a whispered whirring filled the air. Two druids shrieked with astonishment as a sudden crush of red tendrils bled them dry of their energy. It was then that their cohort caught, in the briefest of glimpses, two impossibly swift and enigmatic catlike figures racing with the shifting shadows. 

With the Voltron lion forgotten, they summoned a renewed vengence, pressing upon their new enemies and sending beams of violet light dancing throughout the air. After disappearing into the astral plane at will, and reappearing to attack, they struck without hesitation. Keith was momentarily mesmerized; never could he have imagined Lance possessing such agility and deftness as he downed druid after druid with such deadly precision. He watched as Lance ran on all fours, leading a small swarm of druids to an open courtyard; just as they closed the gap to strike, Lance arched backwards into the air, shot two anemone pods at the closest targets and disappeared from sight. As anemone sapped the strength of its hapless prisoners, and the remaining druids hesitated in confusion, Ashok flew into view from behind, and entrapped nearly all of them with an anemone net. Two were able to escape via teleportation, but as they reappeared a distance away, Lance was ready and waiting, twisting into the air and shooting them both with his energy rifle. 

The druids discovered too late that their feline foes could not only access the astral plane, but also possessed the ability to see their presence in any plane of existence. They were no match. Dozens of druids fell that day to two modest soldiers of the Alliance. It had all been a trap. The fleeing citizens were holograms. The city had long been abandoned. No Blade members were anywhere to be found. And the black lion had feigned defeat. 

Keith had managed to take out a measly two druids who ventured too close. He sighed. Lance was such a jerk. 

As the three regrouped and contacted Shiro’s team to assist, Ashok picked up the last conscious druid by the throat and ripped away his communicator. He then sent a doctored message to the remaining druids not present on Olkarion: On Haggar’s orders, converge on Olkarion, victory is at hand. The Blade have arrived.


	40. Auburn Audacity

As Ashok was still conveying false commands to Haggar’s minions, Wolf suddenly reappeared at Keith’s side. 

“There you are! Where have you been!?” asks Keith in exasperation. 

Without hesitating, Wolf transports him down to the secure bunker hiding the refugees and Olkari citizens. There he finds Adam and his friends barricading the door to shield them from the heavy fire on the other side. 

“What’s your status?” Keith asks urgently.

“A few Blade members are fighting a druid on the other side. There are sentries and drones with them as well. I think there are some people trapped out there. By our head count, we’re missing at least three people,” Adam says urgently. 

“Okay, thanks, I’ll take care of it.”

Wolf teleports Keith right above the druid as he is about to unleash a massive blast on his injured enemies. The druid realizes a moment too late that a sword is being plunged into his shoulder, piercing through his heart and lungs. In one swift, fluid motion, Keith swings his sword into the nearest sentry and uses it to leverage a deadly kick into the head of a second sentry. As he falls and extracts his sword, he uses his momentum to destroy two more approaching drones. In the meantime, Wolf is transporting the injured Blade members to Trajan and Commander Korvak’s location into the medical wing of the bunker. 

The Blades were instantly on edge when they saw Korvak; for they were from this reality and were certain that Korvak had infiltrated Sendak’s cruiser.

“What are you doing here, Korvak? Aren’t you on a mission to spy on Sendak?”

“And what in the name of Daibazaal are you wearing?” 

“Ah, long story short, I’m not from this reality, and I’m not a Blade. I’m completing my training as a medical doctor. This is Trajan, he’s an emergency physician and we’re here to treat your injuries.”

“Oh,” they all replied in a bit of confusion. 

“He’s being modest,” Trajan replies. “He’s actually Lotor’s right hand, and is second-in-command of the Galra empire.”

“Uh, yes sir,” they reply formally. 

Wolf left them to return to Keith who was almost finished taking down all the sentries. They were about to search for the missing refugees when three more druids breach the bunker. 

“Uh oh,” Keith laments out loud as Wolf disappears. Keith takes cover, cursing his current predicament when his canine friend reappears with Lance. 

“Hey, man, I guess your wolf thought you could use my help,” Lance beams when he sees him. 

“I was handling it myself,” Keith grumbles as he crosses his arms. 

He was expecting a snarky retort when he hears Lance adopt a softer tone. “Listen, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. Wolf just brought me to level the playing field. I know you could have handled it.”

He had to blink a few times to conceal his surprise. As they were formulating a plan, his wolf disappears again. “Oh come on! He’s been doing that all day!”

Unbeknownst to anyone, Wolf had rescued a small, auburn-haired child hiding in a narrow crevice who had gotten stuck earlier in the day. The Altean toddler had always been a wilful little boy who was forever hiding from his caregivers and mother when he didn’t want to do something. Today was the day he decided he was definitely NOT going into an underground bunker. In the confusion and chaos, he had been left behind, and the only one who heard his distressed whimpers and cries was Wolf. Wolf had tried to bring him to the rest group, but his loud crying as soon as they teleported underground would give away their positions, and he couldn’t risk it. He therefore brought the little one inside the safest place he knew: the Black Lion. Wolf was on his way now to bring some food and water for the child. As soon as the ethereal canine returned, the little boy snuggled into him, ate his snacks, and promptly fell asleep in his soft fur. Keith would not see Wolf again today until he boarded his lion later on.


	41. A Perilous Promise

“Ready yourselves, she is coming!” yells Romelle.

“Wait, where are the seatbelts?!” cries one of the Alteans.

“Life lesson one: LIFE DOESN’T GIVE YOU SEATBELTS!” she yells back. As they stared at her in abject fear, she says with a laugh, “Just kidding, secure yourselves with these energy belts located along the starboard wall.”

Everyone scrambled for a safety-hold as the Sincline Robeast lurched forward to repel the first melee attack with its dual swords. The ancient warrior wielded a massive spear that could telescope its length at will, thrusting its initial attack past its opponent’s defenses, and grazing its shoulder. Lotor responded with a ferocious swipe of his tail, knocking it off kilter, the momentum of its spin slashing the warrior’s back with its short swords. Unfazed and unaffected by this counterattack, Gaiya charged with her ancient mech, parrying their strikes with a rapid sequence of spins and knocking away the deadly tail. She then thrust her warriors bare hand into Lotron’s damaged shoulder, shearing away its armoured hull. Nymuë and Seph did not need to communicate their next move: they plunged their swords through the chest of the warrior at such oblique angles that escape was impossible without first ripping away the weapons. As Gaiya sought to extract Lotron’s quintessence, Allura stepped up to the plate and said, “Alright, we’ll give it to her. As much energy as she wants.”

With an extraordinary burst of radiant light from the Sincline ship, Gaiya was immediately overwhelmed with a flood of pure quintessence. Nymuë was able to silently add her own purification to the rapid boluses of energy but they had all been outmanoeuvred. Holding the dual swords in place, Gaiya forced the Sincline mech to complete her mission: she redirected every ounce of energy they gave her to open a transreality rift via the swords in her chest. Just as Nymuë’s healing powers had cleansed the darkness from her, she regained her senses long enough to watch herself consumed by the darkness once more, enveloped by the rift creatures. Lotor and his team were trapped; discarding the swords, they struggled to get away from the swirling mass of malevolence. 

Just as Shiro’s team was on their way to Olkarion, he stops his team. “Pidge, Hunk, Ezor and Zethrid, you and the rest of our fleet go ahead of me and head to Olkarion to provide assistance. Acxa and I will pilot Seph’s Sincline mech.”

“Why where are you going?”

“I made Seph a promise to protect his twins and his babies are in trouble.”


	42. In Absentia

As Acxa sets new coordinates in their Sincline ships she asks, “How do you know they are in danger?”

“Long story short, I can connect with her suit but we don’t even have time to travel there. We need to be there now.”

“How can we...” Acxa stops short. By setting the last crystallized castle fragment into the same quintessence injection chamber that allowed Seph to wormhole backwards in time, Shiro gives their mech a phenomenally powerful charge. It now moved as one with his transreality suit, and without a moment’s hesitation, he locks onto Nymuë’s location and instaneously focuses his consciousness on appearing there. Following a strenuously sustained level of concentration, and an instantaneous teleportation, he opens his eyes to a harrowing sight. Their sister mech was being swallowed by a dark, writhing essence, unable to free itself despite multiple bursts from its ion cannons. The rift creature seemed to be able to predict how it would discharge its weapons and simply warped itself out of the line of fire. The blue lion was desperately firing its energy and ice beams, narrowly preventing the complete consumption of their friends. 

Shiro lunges forward with his energy blades, slicing clean through the ancient warrior’s arm, as well as permanently severing a segment of the umbral being. An apoplectic shriek is lost into the vacuum of space as it furiously retracts unto its original host and finalizes its savage amalgamation. Rather than turning to fight, however, it returns to the mouth of the rift and emits a pulsating series of ultrasonic waves. 

“What’s it doing?!” cries Acxa.

“It’s calling the entirety of its hive to enter our reality and begin a hostile takeover,” Nymuë says breathlessly over their communicator. 

“We have to seal the rift now!” Shiro yells as he ejects Acxa into space toward the blue lion. “I’ll hold it in place, you guys destroy it with your magical energy beam.” 

Before they can protest, his Sincline mech lunges forward and entraps the corrupted warrior in a crushing hold, while releasing anemone on both of them. Using the last of her dwindling resources, Nymuë teleports into the ship to retrieve an exhausted Shiro as the blue lion forms an energy cannon on Lotron’s good shoulder. Just as they are about to teleport back to safety, the telescopic spear pierces the hull of the ship straight toward Nymuë’s upper body. He automatically shields her to take the blow.

The last thing he sees is Adam telling Aria he will take care of her.


	43. Epilogue

Shiro regained consciousness in a hospital bed, his entire body aching from his traumatic experiences. His mouth felt incredibly parched and he had a headache. He felt his chest but there was no wound where he would have expected one. Lance was at his bedside and called in a few of the people waiting outside. 

“Hey, man, how are you feeling?”

“Like I had the crap beat out of me by that Titan girl.”

“How long have I been out?”

Lance grits his teeth. “Couple days actually... they hit you pretty hard with their powers.”

Shiro tries to blink away the blurriness. As his focus sharpens, he sees Allura, Hunk, and Lance. It takes him a moment to recall events prior to his incapacitation. “Where are Adam and little Aria?”

“Who?” Allura asks with surprise.

“Adam, my fiancé, and our daughter, Aria?”

“Shiro, I don’t know how to tell you this, but it must have been a dream. Sendak’s forces overran the earth and killed Adam. You never had a daughter.”

The dread that fills him threatens to drown him. He feels his heart racing as his chest tightens. It wasn’t true. Adam was alive. It couldn’t be true.

“No!” Shiro awakens with laboured breathing and a cold sweat. As the light of the full moon glistened on the snow covered streets, illuminating his darkened bedroom in a soft glow, he looked over to see a little bundle curled next to a much larger bundle, and breathed a sigh of relief. Little Aria was too afraid to sleep in her own room, so they moved her bed into their bedroom. She had always slept with her mother, so she unfailingly crawled into bed snugly between her two fathers now. He kissed her soft brow and gently held her as he fell asleep with a heart full of affection and happiness. His relapsing nightmares were not a frequent occurrence, but he occasionally would have dreams of devastating loss or sequences of traumatic events during his capture by the Galra.

Before the spear struck, Nymuë used the last of her power to destroy it. The sudden gale that swept past them as they were being sucked out into space from the gaping hole caused Shiro to strike his head and lose consciousness. Lotor, watching the events unfold from his cockpit, readily caught them as they were swept outside and deposited them to safety. His Sincline Robeast then unleashed its final energy attack, and both the ancient warrior and the rift creatures were rent apart. The rip in realities was summarily sealed; since Seph’s rescue from the quintessence field, Lotor had requisitioned a team to reverse engineer Voltron’s rift sealing ability and outfit it onto his own ships, no subsequent explosions or tears in space-time necessary. Unfortunately, it was a searing loss for the Alteans who had witnessed the ferocious battle, for Gaiya had been lost. 

The battle on Olkarion had been fierce, as the druidic attack force descended upon them, but the advantages held by the allies overcame in the end. They were saddened by the deaths, for the allies never knew the identities of the druids, nor the extent to which they were able to exert their own wills. In the council chambers on Olkarion, it was wondered aloud how Haggar had ever planned to pilot the Voltron lions without their respective pilots. Perhaps then, some of the druids were twisted and corrupted versions of the original paladins. They would never know. 

With the war finally over, Seph reclaimed the throne temporarily as emperor, to straighten out the empire and kick some sense into the ridiculous warring factions within it. The first thing he would do was give a victory address to the universe at large to inspire unity and collaboration in the aftermath of the war. It ended up being a bit different from the speech his alternate self wrote. He felt his universe was more fragmented and broken than the alternate one so he adjusted it accordingly. He would indeed inspire the beginnings of courage and cooperation so desperately needed among splintered factions and downtrodden defectors. In fact, he would not see some fruits of the seeded hope he had planted for another 125 years. 

As Seph stood among the charred remains of an Olkari town, the following was broadcast to every world within the Galra empire:

“Brothers and sisters, I address you as Lotor, emperor of the Galra empire. For ten millennia, the universe been subjugated by a scourge of tyranny, and a reign of terror under the murderous regime of Zarkon. However, today marks the end of the oppression you have so valiantly resisted; it is thanks to those who have stood steadfastly when hope seemed lost and who saw rightly when treachery hemmed in from all sides. It was the Blade of Marmora who for centuries resisted the lies of the empire, and sacrificed innumerable soldiers against incalculable odds. It was the bravery of underground pockets of resistance who stood firmly for virtue when violence would be their only guarantor. And finally, it was the valorous efforts of those standing with me, who risked their very lives to save a reality not their own. The war is over and peace prevails unequivocally because of their selflessness. A wise octogenarian once stated to me, “even in darkness, hope can be found in the unlikeliest of places and all of love’s petals are bound together by it, the strongest of virtues.” Hearten yourselves, therefore, in the audacity of hope. Do not despair when all seems lost. For it takes only one person to change the fate of the universe. Let us not forget, then, the manifold sacrifices required to achieve this victory, for even as we stand before the dawn of a new era, it is remembrance that forges the path unto unity, life, and liberty!”

Team Voltron, Nymuë’s brothers and cousin, and Lotor’s generals would stay for the next month to assist Seph in stabilizing his empire while Lotor, the Garrison members, and the Blade members returned to their own reality. Seph would spend the next nine months transitioning the empire not just to safer and alternative fuel sources, he would also liberate the oppressed worlds, and finally establish a smaller, more stable empire. Modelling it after the leadership of Ancient Rome, he created a senate and scrapped the Kral Zera altogether. Emperors would be appointed in good conscience, and senators would be elected. The next appointee would, of course, be Commander Korvak, thus allowing him to depart permanently. 

Shiro had joined Adam on his return trip since they had a new little girl to take care of, and many changes were forthcoming. Just when they were thinking it would be a radical adjustment to live as a married couple with an adopted two-year old, Adam found himself transferred to the northern Garrison branch. With the discovery of innumerable extraterrestrial species in the universe, the field of astrobiology proliferated astronomically, and would become the designated specialty of the secondary location. Partnering with the renowned life sciences program at McGill university in Montréal, the research undertaken would become highly acclaimed worldwide. Nymuë, Romelle, and Trajan, having had extensive experience with the medical management of alien species, were immensely valuable consultants to the program.

This suited Adam and Shiro just fine; as it turned out, Nymuë’s family lived within close proximity of the university. In what would become a grand game of musical chairs, Shiro and Adam would purchase a cozy house on the same street as her family, Nymuë’s parents would give her rapidly expanding family their house in exchange for her condo, and Marcus’s parents would also eventually move out, transferring ownership of their domicile to Trajan and Romelle. The enormous effort to accommodate the Altean children was done purposefully; the little ones would have a safe place to grow up, to encourage one other, and to learn of their ancient culture from Lotor and Romelle. All of them had been aware of the despondency of little Aria and hoped the company of others her age could help with her depressed mood. There were so many new grandchildren, that the grandparents didn’t move very far. Their condos were right around the corner. Shiro and Adam were welcomed into Nymuë’s family as their own and were encouraged, insisted upon, in fact, to ask for help whenever they needed it. 

Terraforming Mars had been put on hold with the onset of WWIII, and with the devastating aftermath on earth, it had been suspended indefinitely. As it stood, human scientists still did not have the capability of creating a magnetic field around the fledgling world to shield its would-be inhabitants from the bombardment of cosmic radiation. For that matter, earth’s magnetic field had been weakening for some time, and all of humanity would be grateful for a solution. With the suave negotiation of their diplomats, namely, Nymuë, Marcus, and Hadrien, an agreement was made between world leaders and the Alliance: if they could terraform Mars, they were welcome to inhabit it. While the majority of the colony temporarily took up residence on Olkarion, the alliance set to work to create a new world for Alteans using their technology. Upon further investigation of Oriande, it was discovered it contained records of the DNA sequences of all life on Altea. Partnering with genetic engineers and numerous scientists on earth, Allura, Romelle, and the two Lotors were able to use their abilities to bring the ancient fauna and flora of Altea to life. It was the chance of a lifetime and Hadrien and Marcus also took extended leaves of absence to assist in the settlement of Mars. Marcus, being a constitutional lawyer, would help build their government and legal system, in conference with the appointed leaders. While Hadrien’s primary specialty was neuroscience, he was also well-versed in astrophysics. He, together with a team of scientists from earth, would oversee the terraforming process itself.

After Seph had stabilized the previously war-torn sectors of the universe with treaties and alliances in his reality, he had mentioned to his Altean colony that he would be departing for another reality. After what he had done to their brothers and sisters, he no longer felt he could be recognized as their leader. Many of them were surprisingly understanding of him, acknowledging that he had done so to preserve their future as a whole in the fight against the evil that threatened to completely extinguish their race. They would remember their fallen as martyrs for the greater good. When they discovered there would be an Altean colony in this other reality, many of them wanted to come too. And so, Mars was eventually divided between the two colonies. 

The alliance members transported the numerous Alteans between realities. During this mad scramble, and resettling of even more refugees, Keith returned to his lion one day after arriving in his own reality to find Wolf cuddling a small Altean toddler. The little boy had hidden himself within the lion and had been cared after solely by Wolf. The child wouldn’t speak, despite any amount of coaxing so he recruited Lance, Pidge, and Hunk to help him find the parents. No one recognized him. After weeks of searching, he left notices in Olkarion to be contacted if anyone was missing their child. In the meantime, he sighed to himself, he was going to be a temporary dad. No one ever ended up contacting him because the child wasn’t from their reality. 

It was during this time that Allura found her heart pulled in two different directions. She had had feelings for Lance but also felt called to be with her own people. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t come with her. But it would also be a massive sacrifice on his part, leaving behind his large family, his friends, the sandy beaches, and the temperate weather. She didn’t want to admit it yet to herself, but she also felt her heart flutter whenever Arenor assisted her with her work, a fetching Altean engineer from the colony. Admittedly, he also had the most beautiful ears. 

Lance also felt conflicted. With his best friends living in the north, Allura working on Mars, and his sister busy at the Garrison, he had started spending more time with Keith. Keith was actually a pretty sensitive guy once he got to know him. He was exceptionally kind to the Altean toddler who clung ceaselessly to his pant leg. Keith had found it difficult to care for him alone so Lance ended up moving in with him to help him care for his new little charge. The poor traumatized child refused to speak, even after weeks of living with his guardians; the only thing that soothed him was snuggling with Wolf. So the two friends continued to remained nameless, neither giving any indication of their true name. 

After a month of their unusual arrangement, they happened to call Shiro and Adam when Aria was in the room. She took one look at her twin brother cuddling with his furry friend in the background and went ballistic. She was still too young to verbalize most of her feelings but they were able to put the pieces together. The moment he saw her, he started crying and calling her name as he tried to climb through the screen. Keith couldn’t believe it. He thought his child had been from this reality and not the other one. His wolf must have saved him on Olkarion. Little Valfor cried inconsolably that night until he exhausted himself and fell asleep. 

“What should we do then? Should we let Shiro and Adam adopt him?” Lance asks after the little one was settled to bed.

Keith sat down and put his face in his hands. He actually really liked the current arrangement they had, and had started to think of Valfor as his own. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing... all of them. “I don’t know,” he starts hesitantly. “I... am really attached to him already. Wait, what do you mean ‘we’?”

“Well, I’m attached to him too. I’ve kinda started to think of us as... well, kind of a family.”

This admission caught Keith completely by surprise he found himself tearing up a bit. “Yeah, me too,” he mumbled. 

Lance grinned slyly and said with a laugh, “Thought you said this wasn’t a Klance fanfiction! Anyway, I really miss seeing Shiro and Seph. I wouldn’t mind living closer to them even if they live in the arctic.”

“They don’t live in the arctic.”

“Anything north of the 49th parallel is considered the arctic to me.”

Lance and Keith successfully applied to transfer to the northern division two months after the end of the war, and ended up moving into Shiro and Adam’s walk-out basement as co-owners. It had been clearly constructed to accommodate tenants, and the additional income greatly helped the other two since Shiro was on leave. 

Shiro had taken an extended leave from work to care for the children and tend to his mental health. He suffered from PTSD and it would be a long and arduous journey to recovery. He often took the kids down the street to Nymuë’s house to play with the twin babies, as she had a generous maternity leave of two years. This, in turn, helped alleviate the deep pain of losing their mother, and as a result, Valfor and Aria became surprisingly resilient and adaptable. They were surrounded by loving and familiar people in a comforting and secure environment. The sound of baby laughter and little feet thumping up and down the corridors filled Shiro’s existence with renewed purpose and unparalleled happiness. The four children were thrilled beyond measure to be able play with Wolf. Wolf became such a soothing addition to anyone who had suffered great loss, Keith had no shortage of friends requesting to walk him. The tenderhearted canine never forgot how close Nymuë and Seph had been to death and was extra affectionate to those two, in addition to Valfor. 

After Lance and Keith moved into the neighbourhood, it was much easier to hang out. They organized impromptu gatherings to play video games, watch sports (Nymuë’s family were the most fanatical hockey fans anyone had ever met), have bbq’s and potlucks, go hiking and camping, and at Trajan’s behest, try skiing. Since the paladins had grown up either on tropical islands, or arid desert climates, not to mention the Alteans’ unfamiliarity with snow, none of them had ever tried snow sports before. It was a new experience for everyone. Some of them were naturals, and others of them, hung out in the ski lodge all day. Someone had to look after the babies, after all. 

All of them watched with pure delight witnessing the Alteans try novel cuisine. Every food on earth was apparently sent by the gods. The kids actually cried eating macaroni and cheese for the first time. Romelle had a weakness for pears, plums, and any type of fragrant fruit. Lotor and Seph poured way too much maple syrup on everything. Their most amusing discovery was that Alteans universally had a penchant for strawberries. Their human friends had to stifle laughter at the overwhelming bliss on their faces as they tried strawberry buttercream cupcakes or chocolate-dipped strawberries for the first time. 

The continued camaderie, encouragement, and laughter were a constant salve to old war wounds and a healing ointment for devastating loss. And just when their lives were at the peak of perfection, they received a stunning announcement on their communicator while they were all having a New Years celebration one night: Hadrien and Marcus were returning to earth with their fiancées, now a year after their departure, who happened to be a set of twin Altean sisters from Seph’s reality. And they had every intention of raising their families in ‘Little Altea’ on earth. 

Nymuë crossed her arms and said stolidly without so much as a word of congratulation, “You bumbling Stone Age baboons know twins run in families, right? There are way too many kids here, already. There ain’t no way I’m babysitting.”

The room burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more fun epilogues to come, which will be snapshots of their lives after the war and pictures of children (and possibly parents) in Halloween costumes. Slice of life epilogues from Lotor’s POV are all in part 6. Thanks so much for reading everyone, and thank you kindly for the kudos. For any unspecified events that were unsatisfactory in season 7, you can deviously relegate them into Shiro’s bad dreams.


	44. Second Epilogue

“Hey Lance, is everything alright?” Shiro asks, noticing that Lance seemed distracted and preoccupied. They had some downtime today and were taking a break from the post-war cleanup. Seph brought out a tray of his favourite food: buttercream cupcakes that Hunk and Nymuë had made. The three were outside, under the warm Olkarion sun, enjoying the cool breeze. 

“Yeah, I’m just... I’m just a bit confused, that’s all.”

“About what?” Seph asks with his mouth full. He hadn’t even sat down yet and had already shoved half a cake in his mouth. 

“What do you do if you’re in love with two people?”

Seph was about to take another bite of his maple cinnamon cupcake when he chuckled. “Alright, is this two different people or the same two people from different realities?”

Lance smiled a bit. “Well, it’s not like your situation. I know Nymuë loves both of you. It’s two different people from our reality.”

“Do we know them?” Shiro asks now with his mouth full of a chai-flavoured cake. 

“Yeah,” he sighs as he holds his cake, absentmindedly examining the swirl of vanilla buttercream. “What if I can’t decide, and I take too long and lose both of them?” 

“You know, I can’t really see that happening. If either or both truly care about you, they won’t just up and leave that easily,” Shiro replies with a smile. 

“I am probably not the foremost authority on relationship advice,” Seph admits. “You can see how well the previous one went. A vicious fight to the death in a couple of giant mech warriors is not something I recommend,” he replies matter-of-factly, to some chuckles. He then stops to think for a moment and remembers the first day he arrived. The sudden realization he had caused him to inhale and adopt a pensive look on his face. 

“What’s up?” Shiro asks. “You look like you’ve thought of something.”

“Well, I have not spoken of this to anyone, but after I awoke in your reality, the reason I was able to trust all of you was because of Keith’s wolf. Not only was he protective of me while I was indisposed, but it was evident that he was quite fond of Nymuë, her reciprocity, and her kindness, within the first few minutes of meeting her. Perhaps that may assist you in your journey. The wolf seems to be a good judge of character.”

Lance bolts upright with this statement. He might have otherwise pointed out the obvious bias, since the wolf actually belonged to Keith, but there was something more to Seph’s observation. While travelling to Seph’s reality, he had watched Allura scold the wolf repeatedly for its attention seeking behaviour. And then he listened to Keith tell her it was lonely and just wanted company. If anyone was going to be a good parent, he now knew exactly who it was going to be. 

“No, dude, your advice was amazing. I can’t thank you enough,” Lance says as he sets his hand on Seph’s shoulder. “I’m glad for the way things turned out. You’re one of my best friends.”

The look of surprise on his face caused Shiro and Lance to laugh, and he had to get up, not wanting to reveal his emotion. With his back to them, he finally says, “You as well. Haggar and Zarkon eliminated all of my friends many ages ago. I therefore have not had any in quite a long time.” He suddenly feels Lance and Shiro hug him from behind.


	45. Cupcake head canons

Everyone’s favourite cupcake flavours:

Hunk: all of them  
Pidge: vanilla  
Lance: mint chocolate  
Keith: doesn’t like cupcakes  
Allura: chocolate  
Coran: maple bacon  
Shiro: chai  
Adam: lemon  
Nymuë: blueberry cream  
Lotor: strawberry cream  
Seph: strawberry cream  
Romelle: strawberry cream  
Aria: strawberry cream  
Valfor: strawberry cream  
Ashok: OMFGMINTCHOCOLATEMOFOS  
Korvak: chocolate


	46. Elevenses Epilogue: Quixotic Quartet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sigh. I’m a quixotic quetzalcoatl living in a quixotic world.

Once Olkarion was cleared of all enemy combatants, the inhabitants and refugees emerged weary and anxious from their secure stronghold. Lotor’s team arrived to see the smouldering remains of a once proud Olkari city, a stark remnant of the perilous pitched battle and parlous state of affairs. Amid the ruin and rubble, Shiro was finally able to locate Adam, covered in soot, and carrying a cheerful rosy-haired toddler. He had regained consciousness en route to Olkarion, and despite Nymuë’s objections, insisted on disembarking and searching for his fiancé. She had conceded but stated instead that she must accompany him. Seph, in turn, wasn’t about to let her out of his sight from now unto eternity, so he also went with those two. 

Adam and Shiro’s fierce embrace was only interrupted by the miniature giggles that escaped from between them. 

“Shiro, this is Aria,” Adam begins. “Apparently, Haggar took...” he stopped short as he watched the trio look away and shake their heads. They didn’t need to say anymore to confirm his fears. The little girl, oblivious to their nonverbal cues, looked up and excitedly gasped, “Wotor! Kitty!”

Nymuë held out her arms and the little one did not hesitate. She distracted the child while the other three discussed Aria’s predicament. 

“So, she asked me if I was her daddy. It turns out her mom is a single mom and doesn’t have close relatives. I promised I would take care of her... would you be ok with that?” Adam asks.

Shiro chuckles and replies, “How could I say no to her?” He sighed and looked down at the ground. “We tried to save her mother, but her vessel was overtaken by the rift creatures. We didn’t have a choice.”

Adam hugs him again. “I’m glad nothing happened to you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say nothing...” Shiro is suddenly interrupted by an angry group of people arguing with some of the Olkari. 

“How could you allow this to happen?” they hear people yelling at Olkari dignitaries. “This was our home and now it’s overrun with Galra.” Numerous vicious glares are shot toward Lotor and Ashok assisting nearby. The intransigent and increasingly irascible protestor storms toward Lotor and yells, “You Galra are disgusting, horrible animals. Go back to where you came from and get off our planet!”

Little Aria gasped and wriggled herself free of Nymuë’s embrace. To the astonishment of everyone around, she marched her two year old self right up to the irrational man and yells right back, “Empwor Wotor is dood! This is dood kitty. You naughty, naughty boy. Bye-bye! Time out!”

The man was a little taken aback, and his inclination was downgraded from violent to irritable. Lotor chuckles as he picks her up. “Actually, we are not even from this reality and will be departing shortly; we came to assist your universe and quell the endemic evil that has destroyed so many worlds. As it stands, all of you were protected from the druids by the ‘dood kitty’,” he says as he points to Ashok. “You owe him your life, as well as an apology.”

“There ain’t no way I’m apologizing to Galra trash,” the man retorts bitterly as he grabs the nearest projectile to launch at them. “And why are there two of you? I can’t even stand the sight of one of you.”

Ashok touches his earpiece and says, “Catatomic converge on my location, Operation Apache is go.”

“Oh, calling your friends for a fight, are we?” 

A crowd of onlookers had gathered around the commotion, in addition to the paladins and Shiro’s friends. Adam went to retrieve little Aria from the escalating confrontation but found they themselves on the frontlines as Lance, Shiro, and Nymuë pop in and out of existence, disarming the angry mob to the tune of Apache Jump on It, and sending their weapons to the astral plane. The hum of chatter from the growing crowd was replaced by snickering as each aggressor was subsequently restrained by glowing crimson tendrils. 

As the percussion and instrumentals grew louder, the growing group of friendly allies laughed to see the feline clad heroes bump their hips in time to the music. Everyone from earth recognized the Will and Carlton dance and laughed the loudest of all. There was plenty of hooting and whistling as Catatomic unzipped their cat suits down to their bare navels. Ashok takes the stage as he raps the first stanza, rewritten entirely in anticipation of just such a confrontation. 

Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Kuroneko, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Tigress, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Lancelot, jump on it, jump on it, woo!

I’m Tonto, I am the chief  
Of shakin’ my booty in my boxer briefs,  
I don’t need yo’ shade, I’m the queen of chill  
It’s a piss-free zone so take a pill,  
We heard the trouble, and so we came  
To kick some ass and take some names  
Ding-dong, bitch, the witch is dead,  
Par for the course, so like I said:  
Woo!  
Ho!  
Woo!  
Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Kuroneko, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Tigress, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Lancelot, jump on it, jump on it, woo!

The name’s Lancelot, if y’wanna get with me,  
And learn another meaning of apogee,  
For those in the back, can you sense the danger  
Say it again, don’t talk to strangers,  
Won’t need your words when I’m your man,  
I’ll make you purr like no one can,  
To all you stans in the Voltron tribe,  
Just move to the rhythm and feel my vibe,  
Don’t make a fuss, think we all agree,  
Make love not war, ‘cause now we’re free  
As I said before, can you sense the danger,  
Don’t be shy, don’t be a stranger,  
Come with me, take you for a ride,  
Imagine me pullin’ you astride,  
The killing thrust is the Galra way,  
Vrepit sa, babe, is what I say.

There were louder screams and hollering as Lance swung Keith into the spotlight and draped himself all over him as he took the next stanza. Keith turned fifty shades of red when Lance pulled him into a kiss at the end and smacked his ass with his tail. 

Nymuë steps out next, and struts across her platform as she glares at the instigators. 

Woo!  
Ho!  
Woo!  
Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Kuroneko, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Tigress, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it  
Lancelot, jump on it, jump on it, woo!

Break it down, just break it out,  
Your beboppin’ bigot lexicon  
Keep on talkin’, like this turn of phrase  
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on  
You’re a flubba bubba, muthafucka, and the boogie  
woogie bugle boy of racists, my friend.  
Put your epithets to rest, and be your best,  
All that hate is a waste of oxygen.  
Kuroneko got down, taking war to task,  
Kicked off his shoes like he kicked its ass,

Shiro takes over by swinging her with his cybernetic arm and tossing her up into the air where Seph catches her. There were gasps of astonishment and of excitement when she also pulls him into a kiss. There may have also been some gaping spectators when he couldn’t help tracing his hand over her exposed bra. It wasnt much of a show, however, as the two soon left for a secluded area.

The war is over, but d’ya know what’s happenin’  
Spewin’ more hatred while your mouths keep flappin’  
Live. Let live. It’s a perk.  
We dig cool cats, not flagrant jerks.  
Stop cryin’ and denyin’ what keeps you stressed,  
Find some love inside, and pass the test.

There was a thunderous applause as the impromptu performance drew to a close. While the small group of agitators found themselves pariahs among the innumerably heartened observers, they found their hearts softening a little as they watched the paladins extend friendship and cooperation indiscriminately to their Galra counterparts. It was a happy-go-lucky way of employing persuasion rather than force and showing everyone that they all had more in common with each other than they realized.

Amid the chaotic cheering and enthusiastic clapping, Allura and Romelle returned from their hunt for Olkarion popkernals. They approach Pidge and ask, “Everyone is quite animated, what did we miss?”

Pidge had a wicked sense of déjà-vu as she replies, “um, nothing, nothing, everyone is just super happy... the war is over.”


	47. Luncheon Epilogue

When Lance had implied once upon a time that he wanted to have a romp with Keith (on the day Seph was to return to his own reality to gather intelligence), Keith had panicked and pushed him away. It was hard to understand in the following month why he had done that. If he had simply been truthful with his feelings, then he wouldn’t have to be subject to watching the blossoming relationship between Lance and Allura. He swallowed his own disappointment and smiled weakly when Allura gushed her praises about Lance during one of the meetings. Then he pretended to be absolutely ok about it as he gestured to Lance. 

If he stopped long enough to think about it, however, he did know exactly why. He had pushed people away and lashed out at others when they got too close for much of his life. It was the only fortress he could build that would protect him from the armies of pain that marched ceaselessly against him. The foster parents had been abusive, the school counsellors, inured and unsympathetic to his suffering, the teachers, universally disdainful and disappointed in him. He had been an untamed and unruly stray, lonely, abandoned, and forgotten, who first found refuge in Shiro’s kindness. When he thought Shiro had been lost on Kerberos, the onslaught of despair and anguish had crushed him. The Garrison expelled him for his unrestrained anger. 

In a way, he had always felt a kind of kinship with Nymuë. She had been just as sour, and unceasingly angry as he was. She pushed everyone away and was always by herself just like he was. He had never spoken with her at the Garrison but knew intuitively that she harboured an incredible amount of pain. It wasn’t until their confrontation about Lotor killing the Alteans that he understood the true magnitude of it. Even as he continued to argue with her that day, he felt his heart faltering, but in his stubbornness persisted on his original point. Things had come full circle when he ended up defending her against James. It was amusing to think that they both had similar confrontations with the same guy. When he heard she had been expelled in Seph’s reality, he knew instinctively that she was suffering even more there, than she had been here. In any case, she possessed a gentler spirit than he did, and an enormity of kindness that few were capable of. He never told her that he thought of her as a sister, nor did he ever intend on doing so. She would be like a distant relative. 

Although he had found incredible relief to once again find Shiro alive, the pieces of a broken heart are not so easily mended. Letting people in was difficult. When Lance had started their ridiculous feud, he played along because he knew exactly why he was acting like that. Lance was compensating for his own sense of inadequacy, and treating him as a rival would spare his feelings. Ignoring his petty games would be infinitely worse. When Lance finally acknowledged him as the leader of Voltron, the warmth he felt for the first time fanned the flames of a novel attraction. 

Keith suppressed his feelings and actually had started to rationalize his predicament to justify his fear and inaction. Lance would be better off with Allura, anyway, and happier than he ever could be with a loner like himself. He wasn’t good at conversation, and sometimes missed social cues, and was the opposite of funny. And even though Lance had made that first move, he immediately walked back on it when he started teasing him about Acxa. Had he been embarrassed or joking? Keith never figured it out and wasn’t about to ask. 

Things started to change, however, as he fought alongside Lance the last time. It wasn’t so much the pairing of couples that sparked his new determination, but more so who was doing it. Perhaps it would go unnoticed by most, but the quietest people often absorb the most information. He had watched Nymuë steal Lotor away from Allura not once, but twice. The dour, gloomy, insubordinate medic who had doomed herself to remain single for the rest of her life, arguably just like he had. Goddamnit. If she could do it, so could he. 

And so for the first time in his life, with his heart pounding and his hand trembling, he flirted a little, and grabbed Lance’s cat tail.


	48. Afternoon Tea Epilogue

Shortly after moving into Shiro and Adam’s basement, Lance and Keith were tidying their new space while Valfor played with his sister upstairs. All of the anxiety, stress, and withdrawal seemed to lift away the moment he saw his sister and he once again was able to speak, and to interact with people. One thing he had always been willing to do, however, was play video games with Keith; he’d never watched television before, so animation of any kind on a screen was utterly enthralling. They unfortunately didn’t have any games geared toward children, so Keith tried to choose the least violent ones for the little one. As Keith was setting up his TV, the kids came flying down the stairs, followed closely by an exasperated Adam. 

“You would think that they wouldn’t have this much energy after running around for an hour straight,” he says breathlessly. 

“He might sit down with me once I get this set up,” Keith replies with a laugh.

“No! Is that... is that what I think it is?! You have the complete remastered Final Fantasy series?!”

“Yeah,” he answers with a chuckle, “all thirty seven of them. We’re playing though X right now. Valfor is super excited that there’s an Aeon named Valefor and he’s obsessed with it.”

“Hey, you know who else is a big Final Fantasy fan?”

“Shiro?”

“No, believe it or not, Seph. He wanted to see who he was nicknamed after and now I heard he wants to make FF based costumes for Halloween this year.”

“Lotor is... into cosplay. That... I never saw coming.”

“Well, if I had genocidal, homicidal, megalomaniacal psychopaths for parents, I’d probably relax a little after they were gone too. You should have seen their faces when they watched a movie and ate popcorn for the first time.”

They were interrupted at that moment by the doorbell. Nymuë and Seph had brought cupcakes, tea, housewarming presents for Lance and Keith, and toys for the kids. She greeted them warmly with kisses on each cheek and a somewhat awkward hug, due to her protruding belly. 

“It’s really nice to have both of you here,” she says, “I’ve missed you guys.”

“Aw, I’ve missed you guys, too!” Lance replies. “It wasn’t the same after all of you left.”

As soon as he heard her voice, Wolf bolted upstairs, nearly bowling Adam over and greeted her with ferocious tail wagging, slobbery kisses, and frenzied paw stomping. He was so enthusiastic he knocked her backwards into a chair, which gave him better access to lick her face. 

“Whoa, whoa, down, boy! Sit!” Keith exclaims, feeling badly that he had knocked over a pregnant lady. “Sorry, I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

“It’s ok,” she replies with a laugh. “I’m excited to see you too! Who’s a good boy? Is it you? Do you want scratches?! Do you want them?” She scratches Wolf in just the right spot as he shakes his hind leg. “And who wants puppy biscuits? Who wants them? Who’s hungry all the time?” she says affectionately as she pulls out a couple bone-shaped biscuits she had made just for him.

After an excessively long reunion with Nymuë, Wolf finally noticed another one of his favourite people and became overly excited once more to see Seph as he jumped and whimpered and wagged his tail so vigorously that he shook his entire backside. 

The kids squealed and couldn’t wait to be a part of the action as they tossed themselves into the mix. Seph laughs as he picks up Valfor and says, “looks like all of you have your hands full already!”

Adam laughs and says, “Oh, just you wait. At least there are four of us. There are only three of you and one of you is always away doing emperor stuff.”

“Alright, are there any secrets you wish to disclose, then?”

“They really like stories,” Keith replies. “You could even start reading to them now.”

“But they are not even born yet.”

“Sounds like Keith has read a lot about parenthood,” Nymuë says with a smile. “Babies can hear you from within the womb and prefer the stories they heard there even after they are born.”

Lance drapes his arm around Keith’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen him so diligent about anything. He reads boatloads of books - I think he’s a really good dad.”

Keith blushes a bit from the lavish praise and mumbles, “it’s not that big of a deal. Just taking Nymuë’s advice to read a fucking book.”

He was so bashful, she laughed and gave him another hug. “It’s really nice to have you here. I missed you and your Wolf.” Keith didn’t say anything but he was really happy too, the happiest he had been in a long time. He was now surrounded by his friends and those he loved. He looked over to where Seph was, still carrying Valfor and trying to manage the excessively friendly canine at the same time.

“Hey, Lotor, I heard you like Final Fantasy. I have the whole series if you want to borrow it. You’ll probably want to get some gaming time in before the twins arrive because you won’t be able to sink 150 hours into a single campaign like you can now.” Keith laughed at the look of surprise and delight on his face. “Actually, I was just getting ten set up. Why don’t you come down and play?”

“Are you sure you wanna do that? You’ll have a new best friend in no time,” Lance laughs. 

“Maybe more like a puppy dog,” Nymuë says. “I don’t know if you understand how much he enjoyed VII.”

“I cannot say I enjoyed Aerith dying, however. Do you know how much time I spent upgrading her stats and equipment?! That Sephiroth is such a bastard.”

Keith ended up becoming good friends with Seph since he came over all the time to play after that day. Seph loved Tidus’ and Yuna’s epic love story so much that it inspired all of their costumes for Halloween that year. Valfor was absolutely thrilled to be his favourite Aeon. And Aria was the perfect little summoner since she too had heterochromatic eyes like Yuna did. Keith, Adam and Lotor all refused to dress up that year, opting instead to hand out candy. But Lance and Shiro happily obliged and the group pictures they took were so memorable, that they eventually convinced their partners to participate the following year. When Romelle found out what they were planning, it was as if heaven had shone down on her and illuminated her purpose in life. She would become the most enthusiastic cosplayer of them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this reality, the paladins finally respected Keith’s decision not to name his wolf. They are still waiting for Wolf to tell them his name. Wolf understands quite a lot and doesn’t like any of the names they came up for him. 
> 
> After Nymuë tamed the white lion, he was inexplicably compelled by her power; he REALLY liked her, and just wanted to follow her and be a good boy.


	49. Supper Epilogue

That was the second time Pidge uncomfortably dismissed an abnormally frenzied crowd, and Allura felt she needed to get to the bottom of it this time. So she crosses her arms and and says deviously, “you know, we don’t hang out as often as we should. Why don’t we take a break and have a chat over there, under the trees? We can share these delicious popkernals with you.” And without another word, Allura drags a reluctant Pidge over to a nearby grove of trees, followed closely by Romelle who didn’t know what else to do. 

“Ok, friend,” she simpers, “is there perhaps something more you would like to tell us?”

“Um...” Pidge falters, “like what?”

“Oh, you know, why you are acting like you’re hiding something, perhaps?”

“Iiiiiiii... don’t know if it’s my place to say anything.”

“We’re all girls, here. You can trust us with anything.”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I just think some things should evolve independently... of me. And I don’t know that I’d call me a girl. I’m still figuring it out.” 

“But...” Allura was at a bit of a loss. She literally had no idea what Pidge was talking about on any level. 

“Well, now that we’ve settled that,” declares Romelle, “I’m hungry! Let’s go get some food!”

Meanwhile, Keith had about a hundred questions for Lance, but the only thing he managed to stammer after clearing his throat was, “So... uh, why... is your name Lancelot?” He continues to nervously ramble, “I know Tonto was a cat from a movie, which is pretty cool, since Tonto is also used in the original song, and Kuroneko means black cat, and Tigress is self-explanatory... so why are you named after a knight and/or a fanfiction ship?” 

“It’s actually a combo of Lance and ocelot. Ashok came up with all the names. That guy knows more about earth than I do and exclusively speaks in movie quotes, it’s amazing. I love our team,” he sighs. “So anyway, it’s not referring to the knight, and there’s DEFINITELY NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN ME AND LOTOR.”

Just as he was realizing he said that statement way too loudly, he sees a stunned Allura, Romelle, and Pidge stop dead in their tracks as they were heading toward him, a frozen Shiro and Adam looking at him in confusion, and Lotor himself cutting off his current conversation to stare at him in bewilderment.

“And here I thought we were only here for comic relief,” Hedrick says with disinterest as he continues to help the refugees.

“Right?!” asks Dox, “Here we got Lotor in some love triangle and now we find out it’s like... a four-sided... thing.”

“Ok, Dox, don’t hurt yourself. Parallelogram? Rhombus?”

“Naw, you amateurs, it’s a FUCKTANGLE!” Monty yells from the back.


	50. Dinner Epilogue

Three and a half years after they had defeated the forces of evil in Seph’s reality, negotiated numerous alliance treaties, and created an intergalactic peace council, the Voltron paladins of his reality finally reappeared after a fraught and difficult journey home. They had been updated by their Sam on how a team Voltron from another reality had intervened, rescued both Lotors from the quintessence field, and subsequently saved the entirety of earth’s population in both realities, leaving behind a prosperous and peaceful universe. After discovering that their own Lotor had developed such close bonds with this alternate team, and had decided to leave his own reality for this alternate one, they had contacted him first. The following day, they called Shiro’s transceiver to speak with the rest of the paladins to thank them for everything they had done. 

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Shiro’s house was in absolute pandemonium when the communication screen opened. Kids were running around, decorations were ripped from their origins, strewn and shunted about, and people came and went from the vestibule, chattering and laughing. For this informal meeting, Lance and Keith didn’t have far to travel, they just had to walk upstairs. Pidge and Hunk, on the other hand, had become so invaluable to the rebuilding of New Altea that they spent much of their time on Mars. Today, however, was special. They had dropped by to spend time with their friends and take part in an elaborate egg hunt planned for the children during the April break. Commander Ashok was also there, dressed as the Easter bunny. In fact, when he wasn’t overseeing the Galra empire, he would often come dressed as Santa, the tooth fairy, or Michael Jackson. The kids, especially Aria, adored him. 

Adam and Shiro were the first to greet the paladins warmly and congratulate them on their safe arrival. 

“You guys saved so many lives in our reality, thank you so much,” the other Shiro says. “I was told Adam wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t come. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

“I know it’s dangerous travelling through the quintessence field. You guys risked a lot just by coming here,” the other Lance continues. 

“Well, we couldn’t stand by and do nothing while people perished in your reality,” Adam replies. “I’m just glad we could help!”

“Hey,” the other Pidge says, “is that one of the twins you’re holding? I don’t know which one she is.”

“Oh, sorry, of course, let me introduce you to everyone!” Shiro says with a laugh. “The one I have here is Avélie, and she’s four months old. This is Lotor and Nymuë’s baby.”

“Ba ba!” she squeals.

“Aw, she remembers me from yesterday!” the other Pidge exclaims. 

Adam catches Aria running by and scoops her into his arms. “This is Aria! Shiro and I adopted her from your reality because Haggar killed her mother. I can hardly believe she’s six already!”

“Aw, that’s so sad, and heartwarming at the same time,” the other Hunk replies. 

“Her twin brother was found by Keith’s wolf and inadvertently brought back to our reality in the Black Lion as well. Lance and Keith had already adopted him without knowing his identity, so to keep them together when we figured it out, they moved into our basement downstairs.”

Alternate reality Lance and Keith silently glance at each other in bewilderment and surprise. Until that moment, neither one had given any thought to a relationship before. 

Lance drags Keith over by the hand and declares that he is an amazing dad. Keith runs his hand down his face and says with embarrassment, “Will you stop telling everyone that?! I’m just a regular dad.”

“Not the way I see it,” Lance says slyly before he steals a kiss. Keith blushed so fiercely that everyone laughed as the alternate reality paladins watched in amazement. Everything in that reality was topsy-turvy. Now some rather significant seeds of suggestion were planted in the other Keith and Lance as they tried to conceal the moment of clarity they had suddenly reached. 

Lotor came up to say hi and relieve Shiro of a squirmy baby who suddenly realized he was not her mother or father. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” the other Hunk says. “We’ve heard so much about everything you’ve done for us!”

At that moment, the older twins, Eos and Esmé, spring into sight seemingly from nowhere, and exclaim, “Papa, papa! Qui est-ce, who is it?”

“Oh, wait,” alternate Lance says in confusion. “We thought all those pink-haired girls were the other Lotor’s children. We met the four of them yesterday...”

“The older two are his while the younger two are mine. However, we do not make much distinction as we are both their fathers.”

“Yeah, they’ve got this Bermuda Triangle thing going on here,” laughs Lance.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, lover boy Lancelot,” Pidge quips. “Don’t you have a thing going on with Lotor, too?”

The alternate paladins adopt a universal look of spectacular confusion and mild revulsion, completely unaware of the running joke that had been going on for years.

“What with your Catatomic fucktangle,” laughs Adam.

“No, no, his quadratic fucktion!” Pidge squeals.

“Quadrilateral polyfuck,” Adam continues. 

The team laughed so hard, they had trouble maintaining their conversation, while Lance and Lotor engaged in a shoving match. Avélie thought that was hilarious, and laughed her delight. At that moment of bizarre bemusement, the alternate reality team sees a Galra commander saunter up in a pink bunny costume, and shoo them all away. “Alright, alright, nothing to see here, move along, children.” He then proceeds to give the paladins one of the most surreal life lessons they’ve ever had. 

“Alright, motherfuckers, I’m only going to say this once so listen up,” Ashok says as he gets down on one knee and lifts his eyes and bunny paws to the sky. 

“Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields... and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?” 

There were groans of exasperation and multiple throw pillows hurled in his direction, as the kids threw themselves into a dog pile on him. 

The guests were too excitable and noisy to accommodate further conversation, and the team decided to say their good-byes. They also purposely left Lance and Lotor’s relationship status unaddressed. 

“Hey,” Hunk says with a goofy grin, “why didn’t you guys say anything about Lancelot? That other team looked pretty confused to me!”

“Meh,” Lance replies. “I don’t care what they think about us. Seph told me how the alternate me treated him while he was there. It’s their loss. He’s one of my best friends. If they think we’re a bunch of party animals, good, ‘cuz that’s what we are.”

Meanwhile, in the other reality, the team stood stunned and silent for a few moments.

“That was nice to see Adam with the other me,” Shiro says. “I’m glad they’re happy.”

“Did they say there was some sort of love triangle with the two Lotors?” Allura asks incredulously. 

“Mm hm mm,” Pidge shrugs. “Things are kind of cray-cray over there. I couldn’t have even made it up myself.”

“Uh, what just happened? I mean, it was like we were seeing a version of us in a comic book, or something. Those guys are insane,” Lance begins as he looks over to Keith. “So the other me is in a relationship with Keith, and raising a kid...”

“No, no, no, absofuckinlutely not,” Keith replies as he crosses his arms. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Aw, come on, you know you love me,” Lance grins slyly as Keith walks away. Lance laughs as he follows him.


	51. Lover of Kitty Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My dog got me through some of the darkest times in my life as well. This chapter is dedicated to the pets who have helped us through the roughest patches and for those of us who were gut-punched by S8. 
> 
> (I wanted to save Kova ages ago, and thought it was something Nymuë would have done, but I figured he never survived dozens of ships shooting at and blowing up his space ship.)

“Psst, hey guys...” Hunk whispers as he motions for Ezor and Zethrid follow him. “Can we talk to you for a minute?”

The clean-up efforts and treaty negotiations were coming along nicely in Seph’s reality and it was almost time to return to their own reality. 

“Hey, big guy, what’s going on?” Ezor replies. 

“The day I was first introduced to Lotor, Nymuë had said that he loved kitty cats. Since then, we’ve heard snippets of stories of a cat named Kova that used to be Honerva’s pet, and that was his pet, and that belonged to Narti. That... wasn’t the same cat was it?”

“Yeah, actually, I think it was,” Zethrid says. “It was exposed to quintessence by Honerva so the thing just lives forever.”

“What happened to it?” Lance asks.

“I think it died when Zarkon’s fleets fired on our ship. We couldn’t take it with us because Haggar was using it and Narti to spy on us.”

“Oh,” Hunk says, his face saddened. “I thought may be the Lotors might like to have their childhood friend back. I noticed from the few times we fought, all of Lotor’s suits and ships have the same colour scheme as his cat. He really loved that cat.” 

“When I was little, after I lost my dad, there was a neglected puppy in my foster parent’s house,” Keith replies. “That dog got me through some of the hardest times in my life. And I know Lotor had it a hundred times worse than I did. We just thought maybe he’d like to have his cat back.”

“Aw, you guys are so sweet. I dunno, Zethrid, do you think Kova made it?”

“We won’t know til we try!” Lance says excitedly. “Now that Haggar is gone, we don’t have to worry.”

“Hey, what are you guys plotting over there?” Nymuë asks as she walks up to the suspicious group of giddy co-conspirators. 

“We thought maybe Seph and Lotor would like to have their cats back so we were going to see if they made it,” Hunk replies with a beaming smile.

The sudden look of sorrow on her face made them pause with alarm. “I’m sorry, Haggar got to Kova first. She sacrificed him to find out what happened to Lotor. But she only saw him in the rift... she didn’t know we had saved him after that. That’s why she was so hell-bent on revenge.”

“Oh,” Hunk says dejectedly again. “But wait, we got her first in our reality!! So maybe she never had a chance to take Lotor’s Kova!”

“But we’re supposed to stay here for another week! I don’t want to wait that long,” exclaims Lance. 

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be us who retrieve the cat. Commanders Ashok and Korvak have already gone back with Lotor. Maybe we could ask them?”

“Sure, but I don’t want to tell Lotor, I want it to be a surprise,” Hunk says.

“Tell me what?” Seph asks suddenly from behind them, startling them all out of their secret meeting. Lance almost lost his balance, but Keith caught him.

“That... we were hoping to surprise you with... um...”

“Cupcakes!” Lance jumps in. “Yes, cupcakes for...uh...”

“For your birthday?” Keith tries.

“For the record, you are all inexperienced, fledgling liars,” he says as he walks away to the laughter of Ezor and Zethrid. 

When they finally returned to their own reality, they all surprised Lotor with his childhood friend, Kova-themed cupcakes, and a cat-themed movie marathon. Lotor particularly enjoyed the Batman movies. They had apologized to Seph for being too late to save his cat, but he was grateful for their efforts nonetheless. Besides, two Kovas would probably fight each other to the death.


	52. Martian Sunset

“Hey, Lance, since Shiro has both kids today, I was hoping we could go somewhere together,” Keith says hesitantly. “If we don’t go now, we’ll never be able to see it again.” It had been five months since their return to earth, four months since they moved in together, and three months since they moved up North. 

“Oh, that sounds really nice! Is it far?”

“Yeah, you could say that. You’ll need your space suit.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that to see me in the cat suit?”

“Well, may be both. Anyway, we should hurry, it’s a time limited thing.”

Keith already has a picnic basket set in his lion, and has left his wolf with Shiro as well. As they launch into the clear summer sky, and take in the magnificent landscape below them, Lance asks where they are going. 

“You’ll see when we get there.”

It isn’t long before a familiar red planet comes into view, orbited by numerous space stations, and bearing the beginnings of new construction projects on its surface. 

“Oh ok, wow, why are we going here?”

“You’ll see,” Keith replies in his usual laconic manner. 

Keith pilots the lion to a remote location, Apollinaris Mons, and sets his lion atop its apex.

“This used to be a volcano but it’s inactive now. I chose it because it has a nice view.”

“Have you been here before? It’s stunning up here.”

“Just once. The reason I brought you was just to watch the Martian sunset. Once the terraform project is complete, no one will be able to see the blue sunset again because of the new atmosphere they create. It will look similar to earth’s sunsets when they are done.”

Lance was moved to tears by this; Keith took such enjoyment in the simplicity of the world around him, and had a way of turning everything he touched into something more beautiful. 

“No one has ever done something like this for me before,” Lance says, wiping his eyes, “thank you so much.”

“I just wanted to do something nice for you because...” he paused and exhaled a shaky breath. Expressing his emotions wasn’t easy for him. “Because you mean more to me than I know how to say.”

Lance wipes away more tears and embraces him tightly.

They don’t need to exchange many more words as they watch the brilliant cerulean sun cast its evening rays over the russet, rugged terrain, hand in hand.


	53. Unscrupulous Screenshot

Keith and Lance had recently moved into the neighbourhood and today was a day for the guys to relax. Nymuë and Romelle had taken Aria, Valfor, and Wolf for the day, while the rest of them had a chance to hang out and play video games. 

Lance bursts though the door, with Seph behind him. Those two had gone to buy food while Shiro, Adam, Keith, and Lotor remained at the house. “Guys, it’s true!” he yells, startling his friends.

“What is?” Shiro chuckles.

“You know how Canadians are stereotypically super nice? It’s all true. I bumped into someone, and SHE apologized! They held the door open for us at the store, people on the street say hi to you when you walk by, and like this random dude behind me picked up my money for me when I dropped it and chased me down to give it back.”

“Then, not all humans behave thusly?” Seph replied with some surprise. 

“Well, I think Canadians have a reputation for being extra polite,” Adam smiles. “We’ve noticed it too. People are much friendlier here.”

“If I was in charge, I think I’d put Lotor and Seph in a country with the nicest people too, after all they’ve been through,” Keith mutters. 

“What was that?” Lance asks.

“Nothing, let’s break out the snacks and play some games!”

“Speaking of stereotypes,” Adam says with a smile, “did you know they actually have maple syrup festivals here?” He laughs when he sees he has both Lotor and Seph’s undivided attention. “So in the winter, they pour fresh maple syrup into the snow, let it freeze and wrap it around a stick to eat like candy. Like I can’t think anything else that is several layers of stereotypes all packed into one like that.”

“Do they eat it while watching hockey?”

“I dunno but that’s a good idea!” 

“Hey speaking of snacks,” Lance replies, “we got beaver tails. I know that sounds disgusting, but they’re actually the most amazing cinnamon sugar pastry I have ever had.”

“Did you get poutine too?” Adam laughs.

“Uh, yeah. If I’m going to be living here, I’m going all in. We have ketchup chips, all-dressed chips, butter tarts, Montreal bagels, double-doubles from Tim Hortons, and I even got bags of milk. I’ve like never seen anything like that before. How do you pour it all out?”

“You’re supposed to put the bag in a jug and snip off the corner,” Keith replies with a sigh. “All of those together sounds super gross. They do sell regular groceries here too, you know.” 

“Well, yeah, but I’ve never had any of this stuff before.”

“Fine, we’ll go with the chips and coffee.”

“Tell us more about hockey,” Seph says. “Nymuë only ever mentioned it once.”

“Um, to be honest, I don’t really follow it,” Lance says. “I’m more of a soccer fan.”

“It’s a sport that was invented in Canada,” Adam replies. “You have two teams on a rink of ice. And they skate around trying to score goals in their opponents’ nets. Lots of cities have their own professional hockey teams.”

“And this is a national past time?”

“Oh, you don’t know about professional sports, do you guys?” Shiro asks. 

“As I have stated before, you humans certainly have a lot of time on your hands.”

“Well, it actually keeps the crime down sometimes. People are fanatical about hockey here. Crime rates are the lower during the hockey playoffs.”

“This country is the most absurd place I have ever encountered,” Seph says incredulously. “Compared to the empire, it is akin to living in a dream.”

“Well,” Shiro laughs, “just enjoy it now that you can. You guys have had ten thousand years of hardship and suffering. I think you’re overdue to live in a sickeningly sweet society.”

Just then, Shiro’s phone buzzes and he rolls his eyes when he glances at the text. 

“Man, your phone has been buzzing off the hook this morning. Is it the same person?” Adam asks. 

“Yeah, I don’t know why he keeps messaging me. His name is Curtis and he’s one of the Garrison officers. He’s been doing it non-stop since our story aired on TV.”

Lance grins slyly at him. “Hey, gimme your phone.”

“Why?”

“Oh, just let lover boy Lancelot take care of it.”

“Wait, what are you planning to do?” Keith asks suspiciously. 

“You’ll see. Now hand it over.”

Curtis (0905)Hey, Shiro, how’s it going? Saw you on TV and thought that was super cool. Xo  
Curtis (0907): So, I haven’t talked to you in a while, where are you hiding these days? Xo  
Curtis (0910): I was thinking we should chat sometime! gimme a call so we can catch up. Xoxo  
Curtis (0915): Im just getting up for the day. Have today off so call me, babe. Xoxoxo  
Curtis (0917): should I have eggs... or waffles? So hard to choose. Xoxo  
Curtis (0917): waffles it is.  
Curtis (0918): so what are you having for brekkies?

As the guys peer over Lance’s shoulder with marked revulsion, he starts to type a message but is interrupted by a declaration to shower and an extremely unsolicited picture after said declaration. All of the guys groaned and gagged, while the Lotors were absolutely bewildered.

“Is this a courting ritual we are unfamiliar with?!” exclaims Lotor.

“Oh, ho, ho, it absolutely is not if it’s unsolicited,” Lance says disdainfully. “Alright, bub, you wanna play? I’ll play.”

Lance opens several windows, and types a short message before handing the phone back to Shiro with a smug grin. “I don’t think he’ll be bothering you anymore.”

“What did you do?” asks Adam.

“I found his mom on Facebook and sent a screenshot to her.”

The guys laughed so hard at this, Keith choked on his coffee.


	54. Relative Morality

Keith and Shiro had invited Seph to hang out with them one day, and they climbed up to the roof of their home from the second floor balcony. While Lance and Adam put the kids to sleep, the three friends admired the lucent summer sky, yawning with the amber-rose clouds of a sleepy sun. 

“Hey, glad you could come, Lotor,” Keith says after a while. “I know how much you like to watch the sunsets here.”

“Every planet I have been on has slightly different sunsets, each as beautiful and unique as can be imagined.”

“I took Lance to watch the blue sunset on Mars a little while ago. It was pretty amazing.”

“If you can believe it, I have never seen a blue one before,” he chuckled, “despite having lived as long as I have.”

“I’d be happy to take you sometime, then,” Keith smiles. 

“I am deeply appreciative of not just your gesture, but also of your friendship.”

“Anytime, man. May be I can ask you more about how to be Galra on the way over,” laughs Keith. 

Seph sighed deeply but did not reply. 

“It’s still painful to think about, isn’t it?” Shiro asks. 

He gazes distantly at the crimson horizon. “I must admit, any residual pain has, in large part, been mitigated by my relationships with all of you, however, my father and mother were possessed of such extraordinary malice, cruelty, and baseness that I...” he paused and exhaled deeply. “That I cannot seem to shed the enduring bitterness accompanying their memories.”

“I’m so sorry, Lotor,” Keith sighs. “Is the therapy helping at all?”

“We are still in the preliminary stages. I cannot say I have noticed any improvement as of yet.”

“Well, may be you don’t feel any different,” Shiro replies reassuringly, “but you’ve come a long way. I can tell you’re happier and more relaxed now, since we first met you. And I’m pretty sure the you from even just a few months ago wouldn’t have been so open and candid about your feelings.”

“Perhaps that is not untrue.”

“Hey, does it help to be around the other you, at all?” Keith asks suddenly. “Like, if anyone can understand you, it’s... yourself. No, wait, that made more sense in my head.”

Seph chuckled. “To be honest, I do not see him as much as I used to. Between stabilizing and overseeing the empire in both realities, transitioning to alternative fuel in mine, and attending to our numerous responsibilities, we do not interact frequently. Nevertheless, I believe it has assisted both of us. I am certain the only reason he did not oppose my brazen advances toward his intended was expressly because he fully understood me.”

“Oh, that’s how it all went down. I didn’t want to ask but I’ve been kinda dying of curiosity,” Keith mused aloud. “‘Cuz I’m not gonna lie, the three of you make up the most unbelievable story, ever.”

“Well, if you must know, I slept with her a few days after my arrival, knowing she had mistaken me for my counterpart. Subsequently, she was with child as a result of our initial union; I also proposed to her before he did, so I basically usurped their entire relationship.”

Keith and Shiro didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his surprising candor. They didn’t actually know all the details and were completely caught off guard by his confession. Finally, Shiro says, “To have a massive rebound like that, those fucking assholes in the other reality hurt you pretty badly, didn’t they?”

Keith did laugh out loud this time. He had literally never heard Shiro swear before. “Whoa, Shiro, I didn’t even know you were capable of swearing.”

“Well, I only do it when I’m extremely angry. After all you’ve been through, they turned their backs on their ally and friend, and would have ended up killing you if we hadn’t stepped in.” Shiro stood up and paced around. “That Allura chick really broke your heart, didn’t she?”

Seph sighed again. “Had I a larger reservoir of hope to draw from, I do not believe I would have reacted in the manner that I did. As it stood, the despair I felt at her words engulfed me; that the woman I loved viewed me with the same loathing and hatred I felt for my father plunged me into madness. I regret the entire incident.”

Keith set his hand on Seph’s shoulder. “I know I haven’t gone through the same pain that you have, but I know what it’s like to lose someone you love when that is the only person you really have. I actually was pretty mad at the other Lotor when I found out about the Alteans too. But I understand now why both of you did what you did. You didn’t have the luxury of a super powerful weapon like Voltron. You had to claw your way back to the top after being exiled and stripped of all your power and resources. I know you didn’t want to kill those people but if that was the only choice to be able to stabilize the empire, stop the fighting, and defeat Zarkon and Haggar, what else could you do? You sacrificed thousands to save billions. As Nymuë said, the eleventh strategem of war is sacrificing the plum tree to save the peach tree. Sacrifices are necessary in war, and I’m sorry that my stupid self didn’t understand that the first time around. If she hadn’t been here, I would have done exactly the same stupid thing my alternate self did and both of you would be dead.”

Seph smiled gratefully as Shiro added, “As for the bitterness, we’ll take it one day at a time. We’re always here for you as your friends and your brothers.”

Seph could only nod in acknowledgement. This was the first time in his life that he knew things would get better as he felt awash in the warmth of friendship and fellowship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to all you fine people. Thank you, voltron fandom for introducing me to Klance... I didn’t even know they were an item until I started writing fanfiction, and now I love them. They are the cutest thing ever. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for coming along on this weird AU journey with me... can’t believe this is the end! Well, kind of. This is the story that never ends. Part 7, 150 years in the future is coming soon.


	55. I’m Too Sexy for my Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Had a sudden inspiration: bonus SNL celebrity jeopardy chapter is in progress.
> 
> Here’s Shiro, Lance, Keith, and Adam as Wakka, Tidus, Yuna, and Rikku from FFX.


	56. Celebrity Jeopardy

As the trio climbed down from the roof, Seph asks, “By the way, what is celebrity jeopardy? I was told that in the heat of her argument on behalf of my counterpart, Nymuë made a crass reference to it.”

Keith laughs. “Oh, what she was talking about was the parody version on Saturday Night Live. There’s a trivia game show called Jeopardy where you give an answer in the form of a question. The person who answers the most questions wins money. When celebrities play it, the money goes to charity but those questions are notoriously easy,” replies Keith.

“May be we can watch it with you sometime,” Shiro says with a grin as they head back inside. 

Although Keith and Adam had initially declined making costumes for themselves, they were now on a mission. By the end of summer, they would host their own version of celebrity jeopardy as Seph’s favourite FFX characters and recruit Nymuë to write the script for it. And it would every bit as brazen, boorish, and breathtakingly hilarious as the original version. 

On the day of the grand reveal, everyone had been invited to come to their game show. Lotor’s generals, Adam and Shiro’s friends, Nymuë’s family, the rest of the paladins, Romelle and Coran were all present. A large screen with all of the Jeopardy categories was projected in front of them, with Commander Ashok as the host. As he called the contestants forward, faint giggles soon became loud bellows of laughter as Shiro and Lance strutted their stuff to the cheesiest 90’s music they could find: I’m Too Sexy. More wild guffaws followed as the audience watched Keith sway his hips in booty shorts and a low-cut camisole. Seph and Lotor had no idea Keith was even dressing up, let alone as a sexy version of Yuna, and they were already wiping tears away at Keith’s antics.

Ashok: Welcome back to Celebrity Jeopardy and I’m your host, Alex Trebek. In the lead, we have Yuna with -16500$, followed by Wakka with - 20,400$, and finally, Tidus with -69,000$.

Lance: That’s because 69 is the way Lotor wanted it last night.

There was some loud jeering and chortling in the audience. Ashok gives him a dirty look before proceeding. 

Ashok: And the categories are...

Hitchcock Blockbusters  
Ocean Animals  
“S” words  
Maledicts  
Annals of Trump  
The Pen is Mightier

Alright, Yuna you are in the lead, will you please select a category?

As he is speaking, Adam sashays across the stage dressed as Rikku in a giant cowboy hat and makes some permanent adjustments to the categories. There are muffled giggles and a single loud guffaw from the spectators.

Keith: I’ll take cock block for 600, Alex, ‘cuz that’s what Lotor did to me last night. 

Lotor was momentarily stunned while the room erupted in laughter. Seph was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.

Ashok: What? That isn’t even a category.

He turns to see hitch and buster completely crossed out with permanent marker. There were loud snickers as Keith saunters up to the screen and points it out.

Keith: See? Cock. Block.

Ashok: Yes, I can see that now, you scoundrel. But it’s Hitchcock Blockbusters and you know it. Now get back to your place! Settle down, you clowns. Alright, this classic horror film featured the charming killer, Norman Bates in an iconic shower scene. Yes, Yuna?

Keith: What is a douche? Like, was Lotor in this movie ‘cuz he’s a douche.

Both Lotors were doubled over in laughter again, as were the rest of the group.

Ashok: No, that is incorrect.

Keith: But you said shower!

Ashok ignores him and moves on to the next contestant.

Ashok: Yes, Wakka?

Shiro: Jaws.

Ashok: No! That is not right at all. Tidus, your turn.

Lance: Uh, what is Jaws?

Ashok: No! And that’s the buzzer, time’s up. It was ‘What is Psycho?’ Yuna, it is still your turn to choose a category.

Keith: I’ll take Anal Soft Rump for 1000, Alex. I’m told that’s the way Lotor likes it.

Seph was now sitting on the floor and crying into the seat of his chair. Lotor was laughing so hard into Nymuë’s shoulder, he couldn’t breathe. 

Ashok: WHAT? No!! It’s Annals. Of. Trump. As in, the history of the Trump family. In this year during the 45th presidency of the United States, multiple Trump family members were indicted for their crimes. Yes, Tidus?

Lance: Uh, what is 1773?

Ashok: No, that is incorrect.

Lance: Aw, but that’s the year they spilled all the tea!

Ashok: And time is up. The correct answer is... wait, Rikku, what are you doing here? You’re not in this round of contestants!

Adam had mysteriously appeared with his own podium on wheels, equipped with a steering wheel and horn.

Adam: Yes, I am, I’ve been here the whole time.

Ashok: No, you haven’t. I would have noticed that ridiculous cowboy hat, among other things.

Adam: You like it? It’s funny, you see, ‘cuz it’s bigger... than normal hats. ‘S funny right here.

Ashok: Right. Would you like to choose the next category then? 

Adam: I’ll take swords for 800, Alex. 

Ashok: No! It’s ‘s’ words. Words that begin with the letter ‘s’. The answer is, the name of the star around which the earth orbits. The bright thing in the sky that you see during the day.

Adam: What is a saber?

Ashok: No!! 

Adam: But it began with a friggin’ ‘s’!

Ashok: Tidus, your turn.

Lance: What is the letter ‘r’?

Ashok: NO! Not the r’s, the...

Lance: Not the arse?! That’s not what Lotor told me last night!

There was a loud round of jeering before Hunk laughed so hard that he snorted, and sent everyone else into a downward spiral of laughing fits. 

Ashok: Yuna! Its back to you. Please choose a category.

Keith: I’ll take Male Dicks for 1000 ‘cuz that’s how many is in Lotor’s secret fantasy. 

The four contestants somehow remained stoic amid wild shrieks of laughter in the audience, although Shiro had to bite his lip. Keith was literally the only one among the four of them who could muster a deadpan delivery like that. Ezor and Zethrid found this one exceptionally funny and clutched their bellies.

Ashok: That’s Mal-e-dicts, meaning curses, and you know it, you knob. And that’s the daily double. How much would you like to wager?

Keith: All of it.

Ashok: A daring move, considering your score is - 18,000. The answer is, in the Harry Potter universe, this is the curse that causes torturous pain.

Keith: What is Riddikulus? 

Ashok: That is incorrect, it is ‘What is the cruciatus curse?’

Keith: No, I was right, because your face is so Riddikulus it causes torturous pain.

Ashok: Ugh. Alright, Wakka, please select the next category.

Shiro: I’ll take Anal Soft Rump for 800 Alex.

Ashok: No! For the last time, it’s... you know what never mind. The answer is the planet the Trump family from. It’s literally the only habitable planet in this solar system so far. 

Shiro: What is Ur-anus?

The Lotors had never laughed so hard in their lives. Their stomachs were still sore the next day. The same was true for Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa. They had to cut to an intermission because everyone was laughing themselves blind. Unfortunately for the audience, however, the intermission consisted of the contestants donning 50 gallon cowboy hats and dancing in time to Gangnam Style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uranus is never not funny.


	57. Celebrity Jeopardy Galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first one was so much fun, I just... I just had to keep going.

Ashok: Alright you, jokers. Settle down! Welcome back to celebrity jeopardy. As you can see, none of our contestants have breached the positive numbers. Well done, all of you. I believe it is your turn, Wakka.

Shiro: Alex, I’ll take Male Dicks for 800, please.

Ashok: For the last time, it’s mal-e-dicts, you Zanarkand buffoons. The answer is any synonym for the word maledicts. It can start with any letter. Just choose any other word that also means curse. Yes, Tidus?

Lance: What is Mr. Happy? 

Ashok: What are you talking about?! No!

Lance: I’m talking about Lotor’s dick last night.

Ashok: INCORRECT.

Adam: What is a cock rocket?!

Ashok: What? No!

Shiro: What is a bald-headed yogurt slinger?!

Keith: What is Russell the love muscle?!

Ashok: No, no, and no! And time’s up, you wankers. Two can play at this game, for your information. Alright, Yuna, your turn.

Keith: I’ll take the Penis Mightier for 1000, Alex. Wooooo! Penis miiiightier!

Keith rocks his hips and dry humps his podium to the chaotic hooting and hollering of the audience. The Lotors were already in stitches from the previous exchange, and once again, found themselves breathless with laughter. Keith was hilariously out of character in contrast to his usual introverted demeanour. Ashok groans and slaps his forehead in faux-exasperation.

Ashok: Will you dirty animals get your heads out of the gutter!! It’s the Pen is Mightier for crying out loud! And it refers to literary references. You know what? That’s too hard. We’ll change it to children’s books. The answer is, this award winning children’s graphic novel series written by Jeff Smith features the three bald-headed Bone cousins. Yes, Tidus?

Lance: Hey, I know this one! What is Bone...

Ashok: Yes, that’s actually corre....

Lance: ...er. What is a BONER, baby?! Like how Lotor had one all night loooong. Couldn’t get enough of me. 

Lance winks and blows a kiss toward Lotor’s direction in the audience.

Ashok: WRONG! You four comprise the abyssal plain of humanity, don’t you?! Pick a category, you filthy animal. 

Lance: Aw, you love me like Lotor does. I’ll take ocean animals for 1000, Alex. 

Ashok: And that’s the daily double. How much will you wager?

Lance: All of it.

Ashok: The answer is this cephalopod has eight tentacles and is an incredibly intelligent marine animal. 

Lance: What is an octopus...

Ashok: Indeed, it is...

Lance: I wasn’t done! What is an octopussy? 

Ashok: Ugh, here we go. Please tell me how Lotor likes it. 

Lance: Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?! Octopussy is what you are, you cunt. That boi is mine. 

Ashok crossed his arms with such a pouty expression that all their friends were beside themselves. While most people in the room were familiar with late night comedy, their Altean and Galra counterparts had never witnessed it before, so every twist and every jab was completely unexpected, each funnier than the last. They laughed until they couldn’t laugh anymore and continued to speak of it for days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Penis mightier’ and ‘swords’ are an homage to the original skits with Sean Connery.


	58. Celebrity Jeopardy Infinite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OMG I CANT STOP

Ashok: Welcome back to celebrity jeopardy. It would appear we are back by unpopular demand and it seems I am only here to subject myself to more mockery and disdain. Today’s categories are:

TENTACLED ORGANISMS  
PRECIPITATION & CLIMATE  
FLICKER (HORAN ALBUM)  
BLOOD TYPES  
NIGHTLIFE ITCHES  
TYPES OF PETS

Lance: You know you love getting your ass spanked, Octopussy.

Ashok: May I remind you to mind your manners, you uncouth lout. Now pay attention, you simpletons. I see we have been unable to progress beyond the usual suspects. All of you are so deep into the negative numbers, the children’s charities you play for will have to start paying you instead. Please take a moment to introduce yourselves.

Lance: The name’s Lotus. 

Ashok: No, it is not.

Lance: Yes, it is. Tidus plus Lotor is Lotus.

Keith: I’m Luna.

Shiro: ‘Name’s Wakka, my dude. 

Ashok: Ugh, alright, Tidus, you’re in the lead with -200,980 would you like to pick a category?

Lance: Well, before we start, I’d just like to say you’re an all around good guy. I’d like to propose a truce.

Ashok: Well, that’s very nice of you, thank you. 

Lance: I’ll do you one better and start with your favourite category.

Ashok: What do you mean? I don’t...

Lance: I’ll take tentacled orgasms for 300, Octopussy. We all know how you want it. 

Ashok: Ugh, you are vile, you know that? And it’s organisms, not orgasms!! The answer is, this giant ten-tentacled cephalopod lives in oceanic depths of 1000-2000 feet.

Lance: You know, this reminds of a joke. I can’t remember how it ends but you’re a tentacular whore.

Ashok: That... is grossly inappropriate. And Rikku, I can see that giant cowboy hat behind me. You’re not messing with the categories again.

Adam: The name’s Turd Ferguson.

Ashok: What?! 

Adam: Turd Ferguson. ‘S a funny name. 

Ashok: GET BACK TO YOUR SEAT! Wakka, will you please select the next category. 

Shiro: I’ll take Fucker for 500, Octopussy.

The Lotors had not thought there could possibly be another way to misread the categories, so reading FLICKER as FUCKER sent them over the edge. Their stomachs hadn’t even recovered from the last round of celebrity jeopardy yet.

Ashok: First of all, that is not my name, and second of all, it’s Flicker! As in the album by musician and songwriter Horan. Which leads into the answer: Horan’s first name.

Shiro: Who is Anal Bum?

Ashok: How in the name of all that is holy did you come up with that?

There were loud guffaws in the audience as everyone turned to the board. Adam had subtlely altered it to FLICKER (HOR,AN ALBUM).

Shiro: It’s clearly on the screen. First name, anal bum, last name, whore. Just like you, Octopussy!

Ashok: MY NAME IS ALEX. And the correct question was ‘Who is Niall?’ Gods don’t make me regret this; Yuna it is your turn.

Keith: I’ll take precum for 100, Octopussy.

Ashok: Mother of the ancients, that is not a category!! 

Keith saunters up to the board once again to point out most of precipitation & climate had been crossed out. 

Keith: See? PRE. CUM. Like how Lo...

Ashok: That is quite enough, you hooligan! It’s precipitation and climate and the answer is, the name of water droplets that fall from rain clouds. Don’t think about it too hard. It’s literally in the answer. 

Keith: What is golden rain?

Ashok: No!

Keith: White rain? Yellow rain? 

Ashok: Absolutely not!

Keith: What is purple rain?

Ashok: Wait, are you back to talking about Lotor now?

Keith: No! I’m not! It’s Prince’s smash hit. Oh, wouldn’t you like some purple rain, you pervy whore. 

Ashok: How is your species not extinct right now, ancients almighty! All of that is more incorrect than the unhygienic use of Coran’s slipperies. Tidus, it is unfortunately your turn once again. 

Lance: Blood Types for 300.

Ashok: No sexual innuendos this time. Good for you. In addition to the groups A,B,O, this is the fourth type.

Lance: What is BDSM?

Ashok: No, you quiznacking donut! What are you...

Lance: Knotting? Mpreg? Werewolves?

Ashok: No! We’re not talking about your kinky fantasies. The. Fourth. Type. Of. Blood!!

Lance: What are vampires?

Ashok: Humanity is doomed. The question was: what is the AB blood type? Alright, Wakka, it’s back to you. 

Shiro: Nightly fetishes for 300 sounds intriguing.

Ashok: Ancients alive! No, you know what? I’m going to select for you blockheads. Types of pets for 100. And the answer is an extremely easy one: This is the type of pet Lotor has.

Shiro: Who are the paladins? 

The audience burst into new waves of laughter. Even Ashok couldn’t hold it together anymore. It was the most fun he’d ever had and the humour was right up his alley. As the clapping and cheering continued with an impromptu dance party on the stage, the Lotors continued to hold onto any nearby object to laugh until they cried. Lotor’s generals were overcome by its hilarity and loved every moment, especially since their superior was the target of merciless mockery. The skits greatly assisted the road to recovery for all who had suffered ages of suffering and abuse, and most importantly, consolidated their friendships with each other.


End file.
